Amr Zaki could become the latest casualty of Egyptian players' unprofessional lifestyle should he carry on from where he had left off in his homeland. Wigan Athletic coach Steve Bruce made his feelings clear after the Egypt striker once again failed to return from international duty on time. "I really am at the end of my tether with him," he said in a statement on the club's official website. "I can honestly say that in all my time in football I have never worked with someone as unprofessional." Bruce's statement should bring Zaki back to earth. The 26-year-old made a fine impact in his first season in the Premier League after joining Wigan from Zamalek on a season-long loan last summer. He scored 10 goals to become the Latics' top scorer and enjoy a highflying start to his English adventure. It was initially thought that off-the-pitch actions Zaki learned during his Zamalek spell would do him no favors in his quest to convince Wigan to sign him on a permanent basis. The former ENPPI and Mansoura man was involved in several disputes with Zamalek board. Faking injury, missing training sessions and making an outburst against teammates were the sort of problems that tarnished his two-year spell at the Cairo giants. Zaki's first few months at the JJB Stadium went well but he soon recalled his irresponsible acts to cast doubts over his Wigan future.
Ghaly tantrum ruined his Tottenham career "Whatever penalty Bruce wants Zaki to pay this time, if he cancels his contract, I am absolutely 100 per cent behind him," Wigan chairman Dave Whelan told Sky Sports. No Surprise Zaki's failure to adapt to the European professional life came as no surprise because several fellow countrymen had similar experiences during the past decade. Despite putting in some promising displays for Tottenham Hotspur, Hossam Ghaly found himself out of favor at White Hart Lane following his infamous shirt tantrum in May 2007. The Egyptian midfielder failed to attract any English suitors afterwards and was forced to leave the elite Premier League and join Saudi Arabia's Nasr. Ibrahim Saied and Tarek Al-Saied prematurely left Everton and Anderlecht respectively in the early 2000s because they couldn't wait for their chance. Hossam Hassan, Egypt's all-time top scorer and most-capped player, cut short his European adventures with Greek side PAOK Saloniki and Switzerland's Neuchatel Xamax. He simply missed his Egyptian lifestyle. Most of the Egyptian foreign-based players have an undoubted talent but lack of professionalism always hinders their progress, Egypt coach Hassan Shehata believes. "Egyptian footballers do not care about many important things like how many hours do they sleep and what kinds of food they eat…etc," the highly-respected tactician said in February. "They can sleep late at night and then attend the morning training session while they hardly open their eyes. "It seems that our players will never be accustomed to a professional lifestyle."
