Zamalek, the holder of the Egyptian Premier League title, announced his separation from his Portuguese coach, Gisualdo Ferreira, today, after the team bid farewell to the group stage competitions in the African Champions League last week. Zamalek lost to the youth of Belouizdad, the Algerian champion, 2-0, last Friday, so that the Egyptian team bid farewell to the championship and reached the quarter-finals, after the Algerian team raised its score to nine points, to occupy second place in its group, behind leaders Tunisian Esperance, by one point.
Zamalek, bottom of the group standings, bid farewell to four points, and Sudanese Mars, who has five points, bid farewell to the group stage, before facing them in the sixth and final round.
And the official page of Zamalek on Facebook wrote, “Thank you, Ferreira, for everything you have provided for our club. We wish you success in everything that is to come,” accompanied by a picture of the Portuguese coach. And press reports stated that Zamalek reached an agreement with Ferreira, 76, regarding the penalty clause for terminating the contract, which is a three-month salary.
This is the second time that Zamalek has separated from its veteran coach this season, after they ended their association in late January, after Zamalek lost to Ghazl El Mahalla 2-1 in the league.
Zamalek decided at that time to appoint Osama Nabih as coach of the team. Indeed, Nabih led Zamalek to a 2-1 victory over Future on January 29, five days after Ferreira’s dismissal, and it was the team’s first victory in 2023 after six matches in which they did not taste victory. This series witnessed his exit from the Egypt Cup final at the hands of Pyramids.
But after the victory over Future, Mortada Mansour, President of Zamalek, announced the return of Ferreira, with the approval of Nabih, who will return to the role of assistant, while the club excluded the rest of the foreign assistants.
Local media speculated that Zamalek reinstated Ferreira at her time in order to avoid paying the value of the penalty clause in his contract in light of the club’s financial crisis that almost prevented him from registering his new players in the recent transfer period due to late debts with the Egyptian Federation before he was able to finally register his new players. Zamalek ranks fifth in the standings table, with 33 points from 20 matches, trailing 11 points behind rivals Al-Ahly, who played only 18 matches.
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