Former boss Jose Manual admits 2007 Egyptian Cup final triumph over Zamalek as best moment at Ahly
Manuel José considered as Al Ahly legendary manager has revealed that his best moment at Al Ahly is their 4-3 triumph over bitterest rivals Zamalek in the Egyptian Cup finals in 2007.
“My best memory with Al Ahly was when we defeated Zamalek 4-3 at Egyptian Cup Final.” José told ONTime Sports on Thursday.
It remains one of the best games between the two Egyptian giants in the last two decades.
Al Ahly eliminated Petrojet, Tala’a El Geish and Ismaily earlier in the competition whilst Zamalek crushed out Mansoura and Petrol Assiout before they set up a crunchy cup final in 2007.
After welcoming each other to the Cairo International Stadium, Zamalek got the better of Ahly in the second half of the match when Amr Zaki pounced with a driving run in behind the Ahly defence before heading home the ball into an empty net.
Emad Moteb drew Ahly on level before Zamalek restored their lead some minutes later after Shikabala danced to his favorite left foot, and then fired a stunning a carpet shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner.
Two minutes to full time, unmarked Mohamed Aboutrika at the left far post shot into the roof of the net to make the game 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes.
In the extra time, Gamal Hamza struck Zamalek’s third goal in what seems the White Knights were emerging winners of the famous match but Osama Hosny scored two goals after Hamza’s strike to ensure Al Ahly run away with a slim 4-3 victory on the night.
Manuel who still have memories of that historical game congratulated Zamalek after the game for their display on the night.
“I congratulated my team after the game and went to Zamalek dressing room and congratulated Zamalek players for their performance.” Jose concluded.
Al Ahly XI: Amir Abdel-Hamid, Emad El Nahhas, Shady Mohamed, Ahmed El Sayed, Islam El-Shater, Mohamed Shawky, Hossam Ashour, Mohamed Barakat, Mohamed Aboutrika, Emad Meteb, Flavio
Zamalek XI: Mohamed Abdel Monsef, Wael Al Qubbany, Amr El Safty, Wissam Abdi, Ahmed Ghanem, Alaa Abdel Ghani, Tamer Abdel Hamid, Tarek El Sayed, Hazem Emam, Gamal Hamza, Amr Zaki
