Zamalek coach reveals how his ‘tired’ team outwitted ‘well-rested’ Kaizer Chiefs

Zamalek coach Moatamed Gamal has explained how his team coped with Kaizer Chiefs before knocking them out of the CAF Confederation Cup on Saturday.

The Egyptian giants won 2-1 at home to see Chiefs crash out despite having 10 points after Al Masry secured a 1-0 win over ZESCO United to relegate Amakhosi to third place in their group.

It was a tough evening in Ismailia for the Glamour Boys, who conceded twice in the second half before pulling one back, but did not have enough to get the draw that they needed to make it to the quarter-final.

Gamal says his team knew they had their work cut out against a well-rested Chiefs and he utilised all his players while making tactical changes in key areas of the pitch.

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“The game was extremely difficult, and I informed the players about this in advance, especially since Kaizer Chiefs watched us in the recent league match against Smouha,” Gamal said as per Ysscores as quoted by KickOff.

“We were keen to exert maximum effort and appear in the best possible form, and we faced a strong opponent who had more rest than Zamalek before today’s [Saturday] match.”

The tactician then went into details over how he outwitted the Soweto giants.

“Bezera played in the playmaker position during the last two matches in the absence of Abdullah Al-Saeed and delivered an outstanding performance,” he added.

What did Egyptian giants do differently?

“We also followed a rotation policy; Ahmed Sherif did not start against Smouha but participated today, and we fielded seven new players in the last league match,” said Gamal explaining how his decision to rest his big hitters in midweek paid off on Saturday.

Gamal also saluted Zamalek fans who he feels made things easy for the players who were playing under a lot of pressure.

“The happiest moment of my life was when the Zamalek fans cheered for me, as they have greatly favoured me. When I feel sad, I listen to their cheers,” said the tactician.

Chiefs have now been left with only the PSL to contest and it will be a tough battle as they find themselves eight points behind leaders Orlando Pirates even though they have a game in hand.