Zamalek Coach Calls This Our Biggest Crisis After Narrow Loss to ZED

Post-match reflections

Refuses to blame any player.

Mostafa Gamal, Zamalek's head coach, said the 1-0 loss to ZED in the Egypt Cup was beyond his calculations, at a tense Cairo venue.

He stressed in the post-match press conference that he refuses to blame any player, especially the young ones brought in amid injuries; starting some core players was mainly to raise physical readiness after a long pause.

Looking ahead

Gamal described the difficulty of managing the game, revealing three emergency substitutions due to sudden injuries, which disrupted finishing moves and forced him to adjust the plan several times to keep up with on-field changes.

He added the next phase will focus on boosting players physically, with the bigger hurdle being psychological; solving that is a priority before resuming the league and the Confederation Cup.

He also said the immediate plan is the Confederation Cup clash with Al Masry, noting Omar Jaber's latest injury disrupted tactical calculations for now, and more.

Gamal closed by saying he is proud to take the job without preconditions, and that Nasser Maher's absence is about mental readiness; he believes a lack of focus could justify benching any player until balance is restored for official matches.

Punchline 1: In football, even the scoreboard needs therapy after a day like this.

Punchline 2: If focus were a player, it would finally be in the lineup—only after the coffee kicks in.