CAIRO: Zamalek sought to continue their recent revival when they hosted Africa Sports in the first-leg of the CAF Champions League round of 32 on Sunday. The Cairo giants, whose hopes of competing for the Egyptian League title completely demolished, found their rhythm in the country s second best competition. Zamalek reached the Egyptian Cup final after a convincing 2-1 victory over Harras Al-Hodoud in the match that came four days following their 2-0 Cairo derby loss to Ahly. We go into Africa Sports match full of confidence following our cup triumph, Zamalek skipper Hazem Emam told Egyptian TV. I hope our fans will continue supporting us against the Ivorian team. Zamalek have failed to impress in the Champions League since winning their fifth title in history in 2002. The men in white have even failed to make it through to the group stage last season as they were eliminated by Sudan s Hilal in the preliminary round. This time Zamalek are determined to make up for the past woes. Zamalek assistant coach Mohamed Helmi has insisted it won t be easy to beat Africa Sports. We watched their matches and found out that they are a strong team. They are not weaker than Ivorian giants ASEC Abidjan, he said. Africa Sports players, like most Africans, are characterized by their good physical abilities and pacey runs. Zamalek will have to do without regular duo Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq Shikabala and Beshir Al-Tabie, who were handed an internal suspension. Both players disobeyed the technical staff instructions during Friday s training session and were consequently left out of the team s 18-man squad for the Africa Sports game. Striker Mostafa Gaafar is available despite initial fears over his availability after colliding with teammate Amr Al-Safti in training.
