Ferreira complained from the busy schedule after Zamalek’s 2-1 victory against Aswan SC in the semi-final of the 2020/21 Egypt Cup, which took place on Monday.

“We managed to win, and Aswan is a great competitor, but the game was quite tough physically, especially in the second half,” Ferreira said in the post-match press conference.

“We dominated the game in the first half and wasted many chances, but the most important thing is that we’ve reached the final of last season’s delayed Egypt Cup and we don’t know when it will take place; this is in addition to another game against Dakhleya in the current season’s Egypt Cup,” he added.

Ferreira stressed in his remarks that he’s not complaining about his team’s situation only but assured that the busy schedule will harm Egyptian football generally, as there will be two national team games in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea and Ethiopia on 2 and 9 June, respectively, along with a friendly against South Korea in June.

“The players will play three games with the national team ahead of the derby against Ahly. The League schedule was not optimised. This is not good for football, and I mean in general, not only just Zamalek players. I respect the Egyptian Football Association’s decisions, but it will harm all players,” the 76-year-old coach explained.

“The two previous matches had a negative impact on the players, and today's match was important and fateful, and there is more than one young player with the first team, and Zamalek will use them in the upcoming period,” he concluded.

Zamalek, who lost their two previous league games, are still leading the Egyptian Premier League’s table with 41 points, with Pyramids FC playing second fiddle with 39 points and Ahly — who have four games in hand — trailing in third with 37 points.

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