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White focuses on the ultimate mission of making up for the African failure
Zamalek coach Motamed Gamal has identified the main reason behind their loss of the African Confederation Cup title to Algeria’s USM Algiers on Saturday night.
Zamalek defeated their Algerian visitors in the second leg of tonight’s final with a penalty kick to level the first-leg result, but the title was awarded to Ittihad Al-Capital 7-8 on penalties as Mohamed Shehata was the only white midfielder to miss from either team.
In the post-match press conference, Mothamed Gamal said that Zamalek “were not in their form today”.
He continued. “The team did not perform as expected in the two matches,” noting that there were factors that affected the level and cohesion of the players at crucial moments.
He added that the players had put in a lot of effort despite the lack of success, but he admitted that Zamalek were not at the peak of their technical and physical fitness, which contributed to the title not being decided in their favor before the penalty shootout.
The Egyptian coach stressed that penalties are a separate game that depends on concentration and luck, stressing that he bears full responsibility for the final result and that he is proud of what the players have represented during the African journey.
Motamed Gamal was asked about the formation of his players in the penalty shootout and why he chose Mohamed Shehata, who missed the last kick. He said all the players had scored, leaving only Shehata and young right-back Mohamed Ibrahim “who could not have been awarded this shot in Shehata’s presence”, noting that he did not count Shehata among the scorers.
Shehata is going through difficult circumstances after her father passed away last week, hours before the first game.
Gamal has sent a message to white fans and players that they need to turn this loss into a strong motivation to focus on the Egyptian league, given that the team has the ability and elements to make up for the African failure with domestic success.
He mentioned that the team will soon work on correcting the mistakes that appeared in the finals, while using the lessons learned to appear at a higher level in the upcoming competitions.
Zamalek are set to play their final Egyptian league match next Wednesday against Ceramica Cleopatra as they hope to clinch the title.
