Zamalek boss Patrice Carteron
Zamalek boss Patrice Carteron said his team will be ready for the Egypt Super Cup game against Ahly, scheduled for Thursday, despite having been through an exhausting week.
Zamalek won the African Super Cup, hosted by Qatar, after defeating Tunisia's Esperance on Friday, and returned to Cairo to prepare for the derby game against the Egyptian Premier League champions Ahly, which will be held at Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
"Zamalek have had a tough week after returning from Qatar to Egypt then travelling to the UAE, but at the end Zamalek are ready for the important match," Carteron told the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
"I'm looking forward to this game, and I know it will be against a tough opponent who haven't lost domestically for 15 consecutive games.
"I'm proud of the African Super Cup title which was achieved after a long time, and I hope we win more titles in the future," the 49-year-old French coach added.
Last time Zamalek won the African Super Cup was in the 2002-2003 season, before adding the fourth title earlier this week to the team's cabinet.
Carteron, who coached Ahly for nearly five months in 2018, revealed that the White Knights didn't rest after returning from Doha, and immediately started their trainings and preparations for the domestic Super Cup.
When asked whether his earlier time with Ahly would be useful for him during Thursday's game, he said, "Zamalek and Ahly players know each other pretty well, and have faced each other in many occasions in the league and the cup. Derby games are always a completely different situation."
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