Walid Salah El-Din, the football director of Al Ahly Club, confirmed that the summit match between Al Ahly and Zamalek was a great game befitting Egyptian football, serving as a response to all those who doubted the level of Egypt’s two football giants.

In statements to On Sports channel, Walid Salah El-Din said: “Congratulations to Al Ahly, its board, fans, and players. The players are men and the circumstances are very difficult. Hard luck to Zamalek, its fans, and its board.”

He added: “Today’s match was beautiful and befitting Egyptian football. The match could have had more goals, which is a response to those who said the match wouldn’t be good due to the level of Al Ahly and Zamalek. This is the biggest response.”

He continued: “Al Ahly is the strongest team in Africa but we need calm. There are many rumors, over 90% of which are false and mislead the fans. Do not believe any of that talk. Al Ahly is focused on the team and has media platforms you can refer to. There are false news such as Zizo sitting with Walid wanting to play, and Afsha issues, none of which are true.”

He elaborated: “Zamalek started the first 10 minutes better, then we came back to the match and were better. Then Zamalek controlled until they scored and took the lead. After that, Al Ahly dominated and won the match. The second half was all for Al Ahly, and El-Shennawy was not exposed to any attack. Hard luck to Omar Kamal for the missed ball that would have been a nice goal.”

He added: “We have an important match in three days, then a break to reorganize things again.”

He concluded: “Regarding the coach, there are files on Al Ahly’s board table and they are choosing carefully. Al Ahly will have a great coach but there is no rush. The fans should give Emad El-Nahhas his due and he should deliver strong matches, but with calmness we will return to better performance again.”