Amr Zaki backed down on the prospect of returning to Zamalek, stressing that 'it is impossible' for him to play in Egypt next season. The 26-year-old striker indicated recently that 'Zamalek is an option', following his return from a loan spell at Wigan Athletic. However, Zaki sounded his unwillingness to re-join the Cairo club, speaking at a press conference on Saturday. "Zamalek are a huge club and I can't deny its favors, but it is impossible for me to play in the Egyptian league again after my experience in England," the Egypt striker said. Wigan spell and Bruce respect Zaki believes that his bout at JJB was fruitful despite a gloomy second-half of the season, where he failed to maintain his earlier heroics. The Bulldozer, who reached double figures with the Latics by the end of 2008, had an explanation to his significant decline this year. "I took no part in Wigan's pre-season training, yet I had an excellent first-half of the season, but after that things have changed," Zaki added.
Zaki respects Bruce "I only started a few games this year because of injuries. I also think that Zamalek's high-price tag for a permanent deal had a negative effect on my relationship with Wigan. "If I had scored my ten goals throughout the whole season, it would have been a marvelous spell. But my amazing start put me under extra pressure. "Despite that, I think that my spell was successful. Great players like Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor couldn't score more than I did, and I believe that's a good proof." Zaki stated that he still deems respect to Steve Bruce, even though his relationship with the Wigan boss reached a dead end of late. "I totally respect Bruce even after he criticized me in public. The system in England is different and I admit that I made some mistakes," he said. Algeria game Finally, Zaki urged the charges ahead of Egypt's crucial World Cup qualifier in Algeria next month as he has no doubts over the Pharaohs ability to pull off an away win. "We can beat Algeria with any eleven players. Egyptians prevail in difficult circumstances," added Zaki, who is still a doubt for the Group C clash.
