Enyimba Aiming to Profit from Injury to Four Zamalek Players 

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

As curtains fall on the group stage matches of the CAF Confederation Cup today, Nigeria’s representatives Enyimba FC will be hoping to profit from the injury that has left four key players of Egyptian side Zamalek unavailable for the all important cracker in Cairo.

Enyimba are going into today’s game with their hopes hanging on a threadbare after they were held 1-1 in Uyo last weekend to leave them third on five points  behind another Egyptian side Al Masry who are on six points.  

There is nothing at stake for runner-away leaders Zamalek on 11 points who have already won the Group D. The fourth team, Mozambique’s Black Bulls are on four points and are playing away to Al Masry in Port Said.

However, Enyimba are praying for the impossible to happen in Cairo for them to pick all three points to stand slim mathematical chance of overtaking Al Masry.  And only a win away for the Mozambican side can make that happen!

But the news of Injuries sidelining three key Zamalek players like Mohamed El-Sayed, Abdullah El-Saeed and Mahmoud Hamdy “El-Wensh” must have come to the camp of the Aba team like sweet song at the weekend. The fourth player, Nabil Imad Donga, the team’s midfielder, will miss the match owing to suspension due to the accumulation of yellow cards.

Enyimba’s Stanley Eguma who leads the coaching crew must be cracking his  head now on how to profit from that good news today while awaiting the result from Port Said.

Eguma is still not ruling out the possibility of his team qualifying despite the slim chance.

“It was really unfortunate we couldn’t win the game (against Al Masry). We trained very hard and mapped out strategies to beat the opponents. Unfortunately, they came to play the games of their lives,” he told media at the prematch conference yesterday in Cairo.

“Our players showed them too much respect, particularly in the first half. Our lethargic start cost us dearly, leading to an early goal that demoralised us. 

“This is a learning curve for many of our players who are new to this level of competition. However, it’s not over yet. We still have one more game to play. If Al-Masry can come here and put on such a display, who’s to say we can’t do the same to Zamalek  and achieve a favorable result? We remain optimistic; it truly isn’t over until the final whistle blows,” observed Eguma.

However, Zamalek’s Mohamed Hamdy Wants Enyimba to  banish the thought earning a point in Cairo today as they aim to stretch their unbeaten run.

“The match against Enyimba will be handled like our previous games in the competition. This game is very important to us, and we cannot afford to lose because our pride is at stake,” Hamdy told Flashscore.

“Of course, we are through to the next round, but we want to finish the group stage unbeaten and maintain our unbeaten run. We won’t take it easy when they come to visit because our pride is at stake.

“Enyimba are a strong and physical team. We drew against them in the first leg, and this match is very important to them. However, they should forget about winning, but we will not underestimate them.”

The first leg ended 2-2 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, with the Aba Elephants equalising through Ifeanyi Ihemekwele and Ufere Chinedu after the North Africans had taken a two-goal lead through Seifeddine Jaziri and Omar Faraj.

Zamalek head into this crucial tie in a good mood after defeating Haras El-Hodoud 3-2 in Thursday’s Egyptian league fixture, moving up to second place in the table, just one point behind leaders Al Ahly. The Nigerian topflight league has not resumed since the Christmas and New Year break.