CAIRO - Zamalek's technical coach Hassan Shehata has expressed his satisfaction with his side's 2-0 home win against Moroccan side Maghreb de Fes in the round 16 of the African Champions League (ACL) in Cairo. The match was held at the Military Academy Stadium, behind closed doors, and this win has propelled the White Knights into the tournament's group stage. “The players made hard work of this victory; they could have won far more comfortably," Shehata told the club's official website after the game. Zamalek stunned the Moroccan side, 2-0 thanks to goals from Ibrahim Salah and Hazem Imam. Prior to that, the White Knights had also beaten them in Rabat by the same scoreline, courtesy of goals from Ahmed Hassan and Ahmed Gaafar. This is the first time for Zamalek to qualify for the group stage of the African Champions League (ACL) since 2008, after an absence of three seasons. The match in Cairo witnessed Ahmed Hassan missing a penalty, while, on 65 minutes, playmaker Mahmoud Abdel Razeq ‘Shikaballah' lost his cool, when coach Shehata decided to replace him. "Shikaballah is a talented player and he is like my own son, but his behaviour was totally unacceptable," Shehata said of Shika's reaction, stressing that no-one is perfect and infallible. TV cameras caught ‘Shikaballah' angrily telling Shehata: “Do you have to replace me every time? If you don't want me in the team, then let me go.” The board of Zamalek Club have decided to suspend the player indefinitely, pending a report from the coaching staff. The 60th minute of the game also witnessed a red card for Ahmed Hassan, after he'd been given two yellow cards; he will therefore miss Zamalek's first game in the ACL group stage. Ahmed Hassan, meanwhile, believes that Shikaballah was wrong to object to the technical coach's decision to change him, hoping the problem will be solved soon, as Shika is indispensable to the team. Zamalek will also start the group stage without key striker Razak Omotoyossi of Benin. Omotoyossi was given a four-match ban by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after an angry exchange with the referee during the Africa Sports of Côte d'Ivoire game in the round of 32. Zamalek, the five-time African champions, qualified for the round of 16 in the ACL after defeating Africa Sports in the round of 32. The White Knights lost 2-1 to Africa Sports of Côte d'Ivoire in the second-leg game in Abidjan, but qualified on the away-goal rule. A late penalty goal by striker Amr Zaki saved the day for the White Knights. In the first leg, Zamalek beat Africa Sports 1-0 behind closed doors in the Military Stadium, thanks to a goal from Omotoyossi. Meanwhile, Zamalek travelled to Saudi Arabia yesterday for a testimonial for Al-Nahda star Nasser el-Mansour on Wednesday. After the Saudi match, Zamalek will travel to Kuwait to enter a closed preparation camp from May 17 to 22, during which the team will play a friendly with Egypt's Misr Elmaqasah on May 19 and another one with the Kuwaiti national team on May 21. Zamalek's general coach Ismail Youssef is also happy that the team have qualified for the ACL group stage, having defeated Maghreb de Fes. According to the club's website, Youssef also said that, although the lads scored two goals, they could have scored more.
