CAIRO: Ahly captain Shadi Mohamed dished out praise for Zamalek counterpart Ayman Abdel-Aziz, saying the White Knights would have been more effective if he had been included in his team s Cairo derby starting eleven. The Zamalek veteran was introduced as a substitute midway in the second half of Sunday s game, which ended in a narrow 1-0 win for the Red Devils. Abdel-Aziz is a skilful footballer, he should have started the big game. the international defender said after the game. He could have made his team more coherent. Shadi believes Zamalek s Ahmed Al-Merghani was not the right man to mark Ahly mercurial midfielder Mohamed Barakat. Merghani did well during the game, but he wasn t good enough to keep up with Barakat, he added Abdel-Aziz could have done better if he had been fielded right from the start. When asked about both teams performances, the 32-yea-old said Zamalek were too cautious at the beginning, and then gradually switched to more attacking style. Shadi named Egypt teammate Hani Saied the opposition s best player in the derby, as he believes Ahmed Fathi was Ahly s man of the match. Saied was definitely the best Zamalek player in the game, Shadi said. Fathi played a great game for our team. Mohamed Samir and Barakat were also influential. Shadi was excluded from the game's squad in the last minute due to a calf injury. Ahly medical staff chief Ihab Ali announced that Shadi's injury is negligible. According to the chief doctor, Shadi is going to be available for the rescheduled Egyptian Premier League match against Harras Hodoud on Jan. 19. Shadi needs a brief rest to get back in action, Ali told the Cairo giants official website. His non-participation in the Cairo derby was just a precaution to avoid injury aggravation. After the derby win over Zamalek, the Red Devils are resting for a couple of days before resuming training Wednesday.
