After getting a bye in the previous round, the Egyptians are away to play the tricky Brewers who eliminated Arta Solar 7 to advance
Zamalek coach Patrice Carteron has conceded he cannot assure the level of physical fitness of some of his players ahead of the Caf Champions League match on Saturday afternoon against Tusker FC.
The Brewers will host the Egyptian giants in the first leg of the second preliminary round of the annual competition at Nyayo National Stadium after the international week.
Egypt played Libya in two World Cup qualifiers recently, winning 1-0 and 3-0 respectively. Zamalek had several players in the Pharaohs team and they had to join their club colleagues in Nairobi late.
‘It will be a difficult game’
“It will be a difficult game, we came early this week to get used to the altitude and to seriously prepare for this game, but as you know, we had a lot of players in the national team. At the moment it is hard to know how we will physically be [on Saturday],” Carteron told Goal.
“Every Champions League game is usually hard. Tusker are a good team, they are the [Football Kenya Federation Premier League] champions and also Super Cup winners.
“They will be very motivated and I know by experience that kind of game is very difficult.
“In football, and especially in the Champions League we have good teams in Africa. If you are not ready 100% mentally, it can be a hard game. So we do prepare ourselves as best as we can in the circumstances to get a good result and advance.
“Tusker are a good team, we respect them, but our target is to win the match, of course.”
What did Matano say?
In another interview with Goal, Brewers coach Robert Matano stated they are ready to play Zamalek with the intention of making Kenya proud.
“We are ready; we have been training, waiting for them and the time has come. It is [Saturday] not far away,” the tactician stated.
“As Tusker we are ready to represent the country, and we must make the country proud in [Saturday’s] match.
“Zamalek are a good team, they [have been] champions of Africa but they are beatable. I psyched my players and they are ready to play Zamalek. Our main intention is to win here so that we can plan for the next match.”
While the Brewers had to get past Arta Solar 7 in the previous round to advance, the Royal Club were exempted from the initial round.
No Kenyan side has ever made it past the second round of the Champions League, and the Brewers are aiming to be the first.
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