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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Interview Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Zamalek makes amends
By Eman Abdel-Moeti
After an 11-year hiatus, Zamalek hoisted one of football's most coveted trophies in any country, the cup, successfully ending an otherwise less than outstanding season.
Ayman Abdel-Aziz tries to strip the ball away from Ismaili's artful dodger Mohamed Younis
Fans careened down the city's main streets, honking horns and waving Zamalek's white, red-striped flags until the early hours of the morning, celebrating the club's come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Ismaili in Cairo Stadium on Friday night. There was good reason to celebrate. Zamalek had not won the cup -- the club had collected 19 trophies in all, second only to their downtown rivals Ahli -- since 1988. The win also capped a disappointing league season which saw the club finish second for the sixth consecutive year. A walkout in the penultimate league game against Ahli in protest at the sending off of Ayman Abdel-Aziz only five minutes into the match drove club morale to an all-time low. In desperation, three coaching changes were made this season alone.
The latest to take charge, Mahmoud Abu Regeila, brought a badly needed steadying hand to the club and his tutelage bore fruit and a flood of goals in the cup games. Zamalek trounced Kantara Gharb and Ghazl Port Said by identical 6-0 scores, thrashed Dina 5-1 in the quarter-final and outplayed Mansoura 2-0 in the semis.
Zamalek looked not to be denied in the final, but first they had to get by a plucky Ismaili side which had won the cup only once before. Playing before an unusually large crowd of 75,000 spectators, a third of them rooting for Ismaili, both clubs began the match cautiously. Errant passing and slow, unsteady moves up the field characterised play for almost half an hour. Ismaili broke the ice in the 29th minute when star striker Mohamed Salah Abu-Greisha, who found himself with no one to beat except the goalkeeper, calmly slotted the ball home after a two-on-one breakaway.
The players rejoice after hearing the final
Ten minutes later, Zamalek tied. Hossam Abdel-Moneim seized on a loose ball and fired from just outside the penalty area. The shot sailed past the outstretched hands of Younis Johnnas, hit the crossbar and ricocheted into the goal.
Johnnas was kept busy in the second-half, preventing several chances Zamalek's forwards created. In the 80th minute, with overtime looming, Ismaili's Khaled Bibo was shown the red card by Italian referee Alfredo for a deliberate kick while waiting for a corner kick. It didn't take long for Zamalek to capitalise. Defender Sami El-Shishini headed from close range what proved to be the winning goal. Three minutes later, it was all over as Tarek El-Sayed and Tarek Saeed combined for a lightning-quick counter-attack that ended with Saeed lobbing the ball over a charging Johnnas.
For Ismaili and coach Taha Ismail, it's back to the drawing board following an impressive run of their own. The club made it to the final by beating Canal 3-1, edging Beni Sweif 2-1, defeating Kouroum on penalties after a 1-1 draw and beating the Arab Contractors 1-0 in the semi-final.
This is the last cup final to be played this century. Fittingly, Zamalek won the first cup which was played in 1922.
Blatter due in Egypt
JOSEPH Blatter, president of the World Football Federation (FIFA), will attend FIFA meetings in Egypt to discuss the organisation and possible rescheduling of major continental football competitions. It will be Blatter's first visit to Egypt after winning FIFA elections a year ago. The meetings will be held in Cairo from 6 to 9 June. Six confederation presidents will discuss several continental problems, including the inability of African footballers based in European clubs to reconcile club and country match schedules. The meetings, the first of their kind, were the brainchild of Eissa Hayatu, president of the African Football Confederation (CAF).
