Following the departure of their two major rivals, Zamalek are odds on favourite to win the Egyptian Cup, writes Mohamed El-Sayed The last-16 phase of the Egyptian Football Cup concluded on Saturday with one of the biggest upsets of them all -- Ahli, the most capped club with 30 cup titles, paid an early farewell to the 84- year-old competition. The Red Devils, lost to Ghazl Al-Mehalla 4-3 on penalties after regular and extra time had ended 1-1. Emad Miteb fired the Devils ahead in the 99th minute before Hisham Said hit the equaliser in the 112th minute. In the ensuing shoot-out Ahli's Portuguese head coach Manual Jose failed to assign the suitable players, selecting three new imports, the Colombian Castello -- who had wasted three penalties in league matches -- Ahmed Hassan and Rami Adel, to take the spot kicks. All three failed miserably "I take the blame for this defeat. I cannot blame any of the players," said Jose following the match. "Our plan was to attack throughout the game, but my players still lack creativity to translate this continuous attack into goals." Mehalla will meet their neighbours Mansoura in the last-eight stage. On Friday Zamalek beat second division team Tanta 3-1. Having beaten Aluminium 2-1 in the last-32 stage, Zamalek, will meet Misri of Port Said in the last-eight stage on a home and away basis. Tarek El-Said gave the White House the lead in the 20th minute before Nihad Haggag tied for Tanta in the 56th minute. Zamalek's Walid Salah Abdel-Latif scored in the 75th and 85th to seal the game. With the departure of main rivals Ahli and Ismaili, Zamalek are likely to make their way to the final of Egypt's oldest competition, if not win it outright. Ismaili departed the tournament after losing 2-1 to second division Telephonat Beni-Soueif on the former's home turf in what was the biggest upset of the season before Ahli's downfall. Ismaili's unexpected defeat is likely to cost the German coach Theo Bucker his post in the coastal club. The squad is reported to have contacted several coaches, including Mohsen Saleh, former Ismaili coach who led them to their third national league title in 2002. But Saleh has said he will not leave Al-Arabi Club of Kuwait. The Turkish Mohsen Ortugal is another candidate. In other matches, Misri of Port Said came back from a 3-1 first-half loss to edge Baladiyet Al-Mehalla 4-3. Hossam Hassan gave his team the lead in the 10th minute, but Baladiyet scored three goals in the last 10 minutes of the first half via Walid El-Hosari, the Moroccan import Said Melody, and an own goal by Ahmed Zaghloul. The same scenario repeated itself in the second half, but on the other side as Misri hit three goals in the last 10 minutes via Hassan, Karim Zekri and Ahmed Hafez. The 39-year-old Hassan twins, who moved to Misri from Zamalek, announced following the game that they intend to remain on the pitch for five more years. "We, me and my brother Hossam, can play for the next five years in any club, even if it's on a second division team," said Ibrahim Hassan following the match. "We still have good physical fitness and we avoid things like staying up late that might affect our performance. We seek to break all international records concerning the total number of matches played." Mansoura defeated Cement Suez 2-1; the Army edged Suez Canal 1-0; Ittihad of Alexandria beat Al-Gouna 1-0; Enppi beat the Coastal Guards 3-0 on penalties after regular and extra time had ended 1- 1; and Telephonat Beni Soueif eliminated Petrojet, beating them 1-0.
