Any match between Zamalek and Al-Ahly is one to relish but this Friday’s Egyptian Super Cup could be a real treat — especially for the neutral, and there will be a few of those at Al-Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
The winner will add another trophy to their already overflowing cabinets and though it may not be the biggest, there will be no quarter given in this latest clash between these huge Cairo rivals.
Zamalek, league champions and FA Cup holders, are going for the domestic treble. Al-Ahly want to stop that and get revenge for defeat in July’s cup final. While both are desperate to win, this time it is Al-Ahly who need victory that little bit more.
The Red Giants won all five Egyptian Premier League titles in the second half of the previous decade but have seen Zamalek take the last two and it has been a bitter sight.
Worse was last season when they did not even manage to finish in the top two for the first time since 1992 and had to settle for third with Pyramids taking the runners-up spot.
Continental and subsequent FIFA Club World Cup commitments impacted their ability to win at home, but that relative lack of domestic success — even if most teams around the world would love the recent placings that the team has had — resulted in coach Pitso Mosimane leaving the club.
The South African delivered in the African Champions League, winning the 2020 and 2021 titles and then reaching the final earlier this year, but when Zamalek are winning the big trophies at home then there is always going to be pressure.
Mosimane was replaced in June by Ricardo Soares with the Portuguese boss leaving his homeland for the first time. It never really looked to be the right fit and by the end of August and the end of the season, he was gone. His replacement is also not one with many air miles under his belt. Marcel Koller has coached in his native Switzerland as well as Germany and Austria, which means that his move to Egypt is quite the change.
He admitted as such upon his arrival, saying that he had to get used to the footballing culture at Al-Ahly, in Cairo and in Egypt. A win on Friday could help him in that regard.
So far, he has overseen two games in the league with six points collected and they have also qualified for the group stage of the Champions League. The team have not quite clicked, however, with performances not at the level that the 61-year-old boss wants.
An opening game 1-0 win over Ismaily was followed by a victory at home to Aswan by the same scoreline last weekend. The new boss wants more goals. “We train every day and we need to work harder to reach the required level, and this will simply not happen overnight,” Koller said.
“We had more missed passes alongside losing more scoring chances during the game,” he added. “We need to do more work to improve the players’ concentration during the coming games. Every victory raises the players’ confidence … with more confidence we will score more goals.”
Hopefully starting against Zamalek. It will not be easy. Compared to Al-Ahly, all seems settled at the home of their rivals.
Jesualdo Ferreira arrived for his second spell at Zamalek in March and was lifting his second title in August. The 76-year-old Portuguese boss has brought some stability to the White Knights and the club are talking of extending his contract, which currently runs until 2023, into the following year.
“It is certainly an honor for Zamalek to renew Ferreira’s contract for an additional season,” Amir Mortada, the club’s director of football, said. “Regardless of the results. And we will work to provide technical stability for Zamalek in order to win titles.”
What may also be on the minds of the Zamalek bosses is that Ferreira has been linked with the vacant job at Wolverhampton Wanderers with the English Premier League outfit struggling in the relegation zone. The last two coaches at the club, Nuno Santo and Bruno Lage, have been Portuguese and while Wolves have denied the rumors, had Ferreira been 10 years younger he would be very sought-after indeed. He has, after all, won league titles in his homeland as well as Qatar.
The season has also started with two wins out of two with the latest a 2-0 victory over Ceramica Cleopatra. At the end, the boss of the defeated team was left talking about the victors’ luck.
“The players of Zamalek are great, but their experience didn’t win them the game,” said Ahmed Samy. “Ferreira is a very lucky coach, and I wish to have the luck he has. The next time, I will shake his hand to get that luck.”
To paraphrase Napoleon, there is nothing wrong with having a lucky coach. It could be that after winning the last two league titles that Zamalek will be a little more focused on Africa and winning their first continental championship since 2002. They have been stuck on five for the last two decades which means they are the second most successful club in the competition’s history. Al-Ahly, in that time, have moved on to 10.
The draw for the Champions League group stage takes place in November and can wait. For now, it is all about Cairo and Egypt and the next chapter in what is one of the biggest rivalries in world football.
