Titleholders Al-Ahly and their traditional arch-rivals and runners-up Zamalek are on tough mission on Saturday when they play away in the Egypt's Cup against Nabaroh of el-Daqahlia governorate and Fayyoum respectively. It is a crucial and important game for both teams - Ahly and Zamalek - as they will meet each other in an early final if they qualify for the 16th round on Saturday. Al-Ahly showed their mettle and got ready for the game. They miss some of their key players such as Emad Met'eb and Ahmed Fathi due to injuries. Al-Ahly's coach Hossam el-Badri used alternatives for this game to compensate for the absences of the influential players. El-Badri has said before that he trusted youngsters, whom he introduced in Military Production game last week. The 50-year-old coach brought some vedios of the opponents' performance to be studied by the team. He may introduce strikers Ahmed Belal or Mohamed Fadl. Nabaroh's board, meanwhile, said that the club would give 5,000LE ($,900) for each player if they beat Al-Ahly in Saturday's clash. The challenge of Egyptian Cup minnows Fayyoum comes before the potential derby clash against Ahly for Zamalek forward Hussein Yasser. Zamalek are odds-on to beat Fayyoum on Saturday, while Ahly are expected to see off lower division Nabaroh as a last 16 derby clash is on the cards. However, Yasser reflected that his team only think about the challenge ahead. “We take every game as it comes,” said the Qatari, who left Ahly for Zamalek in the winter break. “What's more important now is getting past Fayyoum, not Ahly.” Zamalek, who made a progress in the Egyptian Premier League competition when they got the second place and secured to play in the African Champions League next season, are seeking to win the second prestigious title in Egypt. Zamalek's coach Hossam Hassan urged the players to concentarte well and try to achieve the mission to meet Al-Ahly in the next rounds. Shikabala and Hani Saeed will lead Zamalek in Saturday's game.
