Portuguese boss Pacheco riding high in Egypt with Zamalek

Jaime Pacheco’s Zamalek are the early pace-setters in the Egyptian Premier League, with five straight wins taking the club to the top of the standings after seven matches played.

Tuesday’s 1-0 win against El Gouna gives Zamalek a two-point lead over eternal rivals and defending champions Al Ahly, who won the Egyptian title by a remarkable 21 points last season.

Pacheco has been in charge of Zamalek since September, after which he took his side into the African Champions League final against Al Ahly, where they were beaten 2-1 in Cairo in November.

Zamalek are the country’s other major force, having won 12 national championships, while the dominant Al Ahly have 42 titles to their name. Therefore, any prospect of competing for the league crown represents a strong showing for Zamalek and their good early form in an unbeaten start is a promising sign.

“We’re still in the first weeks of the competition so we can’t judge ourselves on being in the lead now,” Pacheco said after the win against El Gouna gave his side six wins and one draw from their opening seven fixtures. “Every match will be more difficult and every team wants to get a win over Zamalek, which makes our season difficult. So we have to be humble in how we think about where we are now, and prepare for the next game against Aswan.

“We created a lot of opportunities to score and we wanted more goals [against El Gouna] but they were well organised. They made it difficult but it was a deserved win for Zamalek.”

Pacheco is understandably cautious in addressing the issue of a potential title charge. Al Ahly won the title last season with a phenomenal record of 28 wins, five draws and one single loss, during which time they conceded just eight goals in 34 matches – a record in domestic football throughout the African continent.

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9