Cuper has called eight Zamalek players and just two from Ahly only to join the training camp directly after their African matches, but they didn’t feature in the game.
It was a sudden decision especially for Ahly fans who saw their players always as a majority in the national team during the past years.
“I am not favoring Zamalek over Ahly. The problem is that most of Ahly’s international players were injured and so they weren’t available in this camp,” Cuper explained.
“Also, the absence of Hossam Ghaly was for technical reasons, not for his recent dispute with his club,” he added.
Veteran midfielder Ghaly has been dumped as skipper of Cairo giants Ahly after he lost his temper and kicked the captain’s armband to the ground after being sent off in an Egyptian Premier League game on 24 May.
Egypt team will officially kick off their bid to reach the 2017 Gabon finals on 14 June against Tanzania.
