Arbitration controversy in the Egyptian Super Cup… and injuries hit Al-Ahly and Zamalek before the “Grand Final”

The semi-final of the Egyptian Super Cup ended with hot and exciting events, which witnessed widespread arbitration controversy in the matches between Al-Ahly and Ceramica, and Zamalek and Pyramids, which resulted in a highly anticipated final between the two poles of Egyptian football, the Red and White Castles, at 19:30 on Sunday evening at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The Pyramids and Ceramica Cleopatra teams held the arbitration responsible for their exit as a result of decisions that had a direct impact on the outcome of their matches against Zamalek and Al-Ahly. Pyramids lost on penalties 4-5 (regular time 0-0), while Ceramica lost 1-2.
Pyramids’ Croatian coach, Kronoslav Jurcic, confirmed in a press conference on Thursday that his team was denied a clear penalty kick against Zamalek, saying: “Justice was absent. The referee of the match did not go to (the VAR) to confirm the validity of the game.”
Ceramica coach Ali Maher also expressed his dissatisfaction with the decisions to confront Al-Ahly, saying: “The players’ efforts were wasted due to mistakes that VAR could have corrected.”

Similar scenario
The semi-final of the Egyptian Super Cup witnessed a repetition of the previous edition, whether in terms of results or the course of the matches, after Al-Ahly was able to overcome the Ceramica Cleopatra hurdle with a score of 2-1, which is the same result as they faced in the previous edition.
As for the confrontation between Zamalek and Pyramids, which ended in a goalless draw before penalty kicks decided the match in favor of the white team, it was a repeat of last season, with the decisive kicks being the decisive factor in determining the second side for the final.

Injuries threaten the top
The two semi-final matches in the Egyptian Super Cup left a series of worrying injuries among the ranks of the two major clubs before the final match expected tomorrow, as Al-Ahly received a painful blow with the exit of its striker Gerdichar injured during the Ceramica match, joining his colleague Mohamed Sherif, who has been absent for a while, which puts the technical staff before the possibility of playing the final without any outright striker.
On the other hand, Zamalek was not more fortunate, after Moroccan left-back Mahmoud Bentaek suffered an injury, along with Palestinian Uday Al-Dabbagh, while uncertainty still surrounds Brazilian Juan Bezerra’s position on participating, which threatens the white team’s options in the decisive confrontation for the Super Cup title.

Players’ optimism before the final
The statements of the players of both teams were unified about confidence in winning the Super Cup, as Al-Ahly captain Mohamed El-Shenawy confirmed that his team is mentally and physically ready to deliver a performance befitting the name of Al-Ahly and its fans.
For his part, Al-Ahly midfielder Marawan Attia confirmed that “the atmosphere in Abu Dhabi gives the players additional motivation, noting that the team spirit and player cohesion will be the secret word in deciding the title.”
On the other hand, Zamalek player Abdullah Al-Saeed expressed his confidence in his team’s ability to win, stressing that “Zamalek has a team capable of achieving victories in any stadium and will fight to please the fans in the Emirates and Egypt.”
Tunisian Zamalek striker Saif Al-Jaziri also confirmed that his team has a great desire to win the Super Cup title at the expense of its traditional rivals, driven by great support from the fans in the Emirates, indicating that he will do his best to contribute to the victory that his club’s fans are waiting for.

A historic opportunity for coaches
The final represents an opportunity for both Al-Ahly’s Danish coach, Jorstub, and Zamalek’s Egyptian coach, Ahmed Abdel-Raouf, to achieve their first title with the two poles of Egyptian football. The victory is an important step in their careers, especially with the Zamalek administration’s ambition to install Abdel-Raouf as the team’s permanent coach in light of public demands.