Football Greatest nights: When Zamalek was humiliated at El-Max

CAIRO – 2 February 2018: Zamalek fans have suffered with their team in recent year, witnessing the club’s regression on a domestic and continental level.

The club has lost its great reputation since 2004 after they had three golden years. Many games influenced Zamalek’s performance and one of them was the 5-0 loss to Haras El-Hedoud in 2005.

Zamalek entered the 2006 season with the hope to regain the league title after losing the 2005 title to their local rivals Al-Ahly.

Zamalek dominated the domestic league between 2000 and 2004 winning three titles out of four. They only lost the league in 2002 to Ismaily.

Zamalek had a complete team led by Hazem Imam, Tamer Abdel Hamid, Tarek Said, Khaled El Ghandour, Beshir El Tabey, Tarek El Sayed and the twins, Ibrahim Hassan and Hossam Hassan.

File _ Zamalek had a historic team led by the twins Hassan

However, Zamalek’s regression began in 2004 due to the departure of the twins, El-Tabey and multiple changes in the coaching staff.

Zamalek faced Haras El-Hedoud at their stadium in El-Max, Alexandria on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 at the fifth fixture of the league.

Zamalek had a good start in the league, winning three consecutive games against Suez Cement, Arab Contractors and Aluminium Nag Hammâdi after a 1-1 draw against Al-Ittihad in the first game of the season.

While the hosts had a poor start in the league after two draws against El-Masry and Suez Cement and a loss to Al-Ittihad, their only victory came against Arab Contractors at the fourth fixture.

Before the game, Zamalek were five points behind the leaders Al-Ahly who defeated Aluminium Nag Hammâdi 1-0 the day before.

Zamalek players entered the game to calm their fans before their decisive game against Al-Ahly in the CAF Champions League semi final’s first leg on September 25.

Zamalek manager, Farouk Gaafar kept Junior and Sameh Youssef on the bench and started the game with Abdel Wahed El Sayed, Ahmed Bakri, Medhat Abdel Hadi, Wael El Qabani, Tarek El Sayed, Edison Soza, Adel Fathi, Moaataz Eno, Alaa Abdel Ghani, Hazem Imam and Abdel Halim Ali.


On the other side, Zamalek’s former player and current El-Hedoud manager, Helmy Toulan started the game with Kameni Martini, Morsy Abdel Latif, Ahmed Assem, Ahmed Ayoub, Amr El Dali, Ahmed Samir, Mohamed Halim, Mohamed Mekky, Abdel Salam Nagah, Ahmed Eid Abdel Malek and Abdel Hamid Bassiony.

Haras El Hedoud historic team


Zamalek fans filled their stands while El-Hedoud players were supported by Al-Ahly fans that went to the stadium to chant against their local rivals.

The game started and El-Hedoud players dominated the midfield area and they started to attack Zamalek goalkeeper Abdel Wahed El Sayed.

Ahmed Eid got tackled inside Zamalek’s box by Bakri and the referee gave the hosts a penalty and Amr El-Daly converted it to a goal to give his team the lead in the game after 14 minutes.

Abdel Hamid Bassiony had a chance seven minutes later to double the score but his shot hit the post.

Farouk Gaafar substituted Soza for Sameh Youssef before half time to regain control over the midfield but El-Hedoud surprised Zamalek fans when they doubled the score three minutes before half time by a shot from Mohamed Halim which was deflected by Medhat Abdel Hadi to make the score 2-0.

El-Hedoud had two chances by Ahmed Eid to score another goal but El-Sayed saved his shots to end the first half 2-0.

Zamalek goalkeeper El-Sayed suffered from an injury before half time and he could not complete the game so Gaafar substituted him for Mohamed Abdel Monsef.

In the second half, Zamalek players were shocked as El-Hedoud players continued their attacking strategy and they were able to make the score 5-0, 15 minutes away from the final whistle.

Mohamed Mekky made the score 3-0 after a beautiful play with Ahmed Eid after 20 minutes.

Three minutes later, the substitute Hesham Hanafy turned the score into a 4-0 after he dribbled the goalkeeper.

Eid’s efforts in the game paid off when he turned the score into a 5-0 after he received a cross from Ahmed Samir.

Zamalek fans insulted their players after the fourth goal and expressed their anger over the team’s poor performance.

El-Hedoud entertained the fans in the remaining 15 minutes with their amazing skills and they were praised with applause from the stands after the game.



The defeat was devastating for the Zamalek players who lost the African semi final against Al-Ahly 2-1 in the first leg before losing the second leg 2-0.

Zamalek failed to win the league that season and they finished in second place with 58 points, 14 points behind the champions Al-Ahly.