Zamalek coach Peseiro describes training ahead of Capital Cup and Stellenbosch matches

Photo Credit: Zamalek SC

Zamalek coach José Peseiro stated that for the first time in his career, he will lead a training session for a group of players in the morning before heading to Cairo International Stadium to manage the team in their match against Modern Sport in the Capital Cup, which will be played with another group of players.

Zamalek will face Modern Sport in the Capital Cup on Sunday at 5 PM GMT at Cairo International Stadium. The Egyptian giants will then host South African club Stellenbosch at the same venue on Wednesday for the second leg of their CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinal duel. The first leg ended 0-0 in South Africa.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Saturday, Peseiro said:

"We have an important game tomorrow against Modern Sport in the Capital Cup. There are major question marks around the fact that some teams have not played their matches in the tournament, but Zamalek will play despite the short turnaround following the first leg against Stellenbosch in the CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinals. There will be a training session tomorrow for the players excluded from the Modern Sport match to prepare them for the second leg against Stellenbosch. I will personally lead the session at 3 PM before heading to Cairo Stadium for the match. This is the first time this has happened to me in my career, and I need to adapt. I hope it will be the last."

Peseiro continued:

"We aim to win tomorrow's match. We are participating in the Capital Cup with the available players. We play every game to win and will give our best effort to achieve victory. Sometimes luck is on our side, and other times there may be shortcomings, but every player wearing the Zamalek jersey carries great responsibility. We must play tomorrow’s match to win against Modern Sport. The schedule forced us into this situation. Today’s training will be split into two parts: one for the players participating in tomorrow’s match and the other for the excluded players, considering the fatigue after the trip back from South Africa. Tomorrow’s game is an opportunity for new players to prove themselves. The group that will play hasn't played much together, so everyone must make sacrifices."

Peseiro added:

"We didn’t play with our full starting lineup against El Gouna and Petrojet. Defensive mistakes in the Petrojet match led to conceding two goals. We want to be organized on the field and avoid errors in tomorrow’s game. Mostafa Shalaby and Abdallah El-Said are out of tomorrow’s match. El-Said is now ready to return to action, and we hope Shalaby can join training normally. His condition will be assessed today after suffering fatigue in the Stellenbosch match."

Commenting on including youth players for the next game, Peseiro said:

"Some youth players are training with us, such as Ayman Amir Abdelaziz, Omar Yasser, and Hossam Ashour El-Taqi. I watched the U-2007 team’s match against Al Ahly yesterday, and there are some outstanding players in the youth ranks. More than one player is capable of being part of the first team and even deserves to be with the national youth team. They showed great spirit. Hossam Ashour El-Taqi injured his hand yesterday, and we’ll check on him in training. He and Omar Yasser might feature in tomorrow’s game."

Peseiro concluded and said that he wants Ahmed Hamdy to gradually return to his form before including him in matches. His condition would be evaluated continuously to determine the right time to use him in upcoming games."