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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters On the sidelines
The highs and lows
MORE than 30,000 spectators watched Egypt play Russia, the largest crowd to watch a game in the handball championships to date. Only 5,000 people showed up for Egypt's game with Cuba.New post
HASSAN MUSTAFA, head of the Egyptian Handball Federation, has been elected head of the new Mediterranean Federation. Eleven countries joined the federation, which will be headquartered in Cyprus. Spain and France declined to join due to their packed schedule of European and international events.First suspension
GOHAR NABIL has the dubious distinction of being the first Egyptian player to be suspended. Nabil received a red card during Egypt's match with France.When time stopped
THE CLOCK at the main hall of Cairo Stadium, where all of Egypt's matches were played, stopped at the start of the second half of Egypt's match with France. After several attempts were made to fix it, the referees resorted to using their stop watches and announced the time remaining every half-minute.Costa sees yellow
FOR the first time since taking over in 1995, Egypt's Spanish coach Javier Costa was given a yellow card after arguing with a referee in Egypt's match with France.For journalists
THE EGYPTIAN State Information Service organised a tour around Cairo for foreign journalists covering the championship. The tour included visits to the pyramids, the sphinx and the Egyptian Museum. Bahgat Group organised a tour of its own, taking journalists to the Bahgat Group Electronics City and Dream Park's golf and tennis resorts where they had lunch at an Italian restaurant.The monster plan
THE 'MONSTER' -- the nickname given to an overzealous Tunisian fan -- tried to draw several of his countrymen onto the court during Tunisia's 24-22 loss to Egypt in the hope that the ensuing chaos would force the referees to stop the match at a time when the game was tied. But the plan backfired when security personnel quickly brought the situation under control, escorting Tunisian fans who heeded the monster's call, back to their seats. The monster, considered Tunisia's good omen, is reportedly a dedicated cheerleader who accompanies the national team to all its international competitions. Tunisia's coach Sayed El-Eiary, meanwhile, said he was disappointed after his team's loss to Egypt. "The Egyptian team was tough, but our team did its best. Up until the last minute, we had a chance." El-Eiary did not have kind words for the Norwegian referees, whom he blamed for the loss.Keep smiling
RUSSIAN coach Joseph Maximov advised Egyptians not to take their loss to Russia in the quarter-finals too hard. "It is not a tragedy for Egypt to lose a match in the World Championships," Maximov told reporters. "Egypt has a good team and good young players who will be able to maintain Egypt's position among the top 10 teams in the world."Déjà vu
RUSSIA and Sweden, the finalists, met once before in the final, in 1997 in Japan. Russia defeated Sweden then for its second world title. Russia won its first championship in Sweden in 1993, while Sweden won the trophy three times; in 1954, 1958 and 1990.Next host
FRANCE will host the 2001 World Championship, becoming the first nation to host the tournament in the 21st century. Nine cities will be hosting the matches, including Paris, Marseilles, Toulouse and Montpellier. A 12-member French delegation was in Egypt to promote France as the new millennium's host.Latin surprises
BRAZIL and Cuba were unanimously acclaimed the surprise teams of the championship. Brazil reached the second round after they were picked to finish last in their group. The country known more for its football beat Saudi Arabia, which was seeded second, and Macedonia, ranked fourth. Cuba managed to reach the quarter-finals and finished up in eighth place, the highest in their brief handball history.
