TP Mazembe Captain To Miss Zamalek Clash

Five-time African champions TP Mazembe will be without the services of captain Rainford Kalaba for their CAF Champions League clash against Zamalek on Saturday 30 November through illness.

The Zambian international is still recovering from Malaria and has been ruled out of the match.

Club manager Mihayo Kazembe has confirmed that the skipper will miss the group opener against the White Knights in Lubumbashi, despite earlier hopes that he could be available.

“Kalaba is not available for the game. He has been out for weeks with Malaria and he is not ready to play, at least not for this weekend’s game. He’s an important player to us and we hope to have him back soon,” Kazembe said.

It is a huge blow for the Congolese side as he is one of the more experienced players in the squad but options are aplenty with Nathan Sinkala and Christ Kinsangala, who is back to the squad after recovering from a knee injury.

Mazembe will be meeting Zamalek for the seventh time in the CAF Champions League. The Les Corbeaux have won three times compared to Zamalek’s lone victory, whereas two other games ended in stalemates.