

In a surprising turn of events, Zamalek have been knocked-out of the CAF Confederation Cup after losing to Ethiopian side Welayta Dicha 4-3 on penalties.

The White Knights suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat to Welayta Dicha, who sit eighth on the Ethiopian league table, in the first leg of the round of 32 last week. They had no choice but to win on Sunday to qualify for the competition’s next round.

The hosts started the game on a strong note after Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz took a shot in the eighth minute but failed to trouble the goalkeeper.

Welayta tried and played on the counter-attack to surprise the five-time African champions but failed to do so thanks to a solid Zamalek defense led by Mahmoud Hamdy ‘El Wensh’.

Even though the Whites clearly dominated the course of the first-half, they didn’t have any clear-cut opportunities. In the dying minutes of the first-half they were awarded a penalty that was converted into a goal by Madbouly.

Three minutes into the second half, Madbouly scored his second of the game after a great solo effort as he was able to get past two Welayta defenders and put the ball on the goalkeeper’s left hand.

However, the visitors had a quick response as Abdel-Samad was by himself inside the six-yard box and scored his side’s first goal with a header after Zamalek goalkeeper Ahmed El-Shennawy failed to properly clear a Welayta cross.

The White Knights’ Ghanaian striker Nana Poku got injured in the 80th minute and got subbed off for Mohamed Ibrahim.

Even though Zamalek controlled the rest of the game they were unable to score the winning goal during the 90 minutes. The 2-1 result was the same as the one in Ethiopia which meant that the game had to go into penalties.

Both sides scored their first three attempts, however, Ayman Hefny hit the crossbar in Zamalek’s fourth effort. Welayta then scored their fourth attempt. Finally, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz missed his side’s final penalty of the game.

This result means that Zamalek will not be competing in any African competitions this season and will be hoping to finish in the top four in the Egyptian league this season to participate in either African competitions next season.

The White Knights are currently third on the Egyptian Premier League table with 54 points. They will face second-placed Ismaily in their next game on April 2.