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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Nothing going right for Ahli
By Abeer Anwar
A player for Al-Shabab goes for a hand tackle in the final
photo:Hossam Diab
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Saudi Arabia's Al-Shabab won the Arab Champions Cup after beating Syria's Al-Geish 2-0 in a final in which the host club was nowhere to be found.
Fresh from its semi-final victory over Ahli -- in Cairo Stadium no less -- Al-Shabab had little problem disposing of Al-Geish to win the coveted title for the second time. "After getting by Ahli, nothing can stop us from winning the title," Al-Shabab's star striker Saeed Al-Oweiran said before the final, so confident was the Saudi club after finishing off Ahli in the semi-final following penalty kicks.
The loss was the latest in a string of poor performances that have had Ahli's fans up in arms. Having come up short in the Arab cup, the club has, as well, been virtually knocked out of the African league championship. Only a strong start in the local league, which has seen Ahli garner the maximum nine points from its first three matches, has staved off an outright revolt within and outside the club.
Ahli opened the scoring in the first half through a powerful header by rookie Mohamed Farouk but Al-Shabab levelled early in the second half following a quick counterattack upfield. After 30 minutes of extra time, it all boiled down to penalty kicks. Ahli's first two players, the normally steady Hadi Khashaba and stalwart defender Ibrahim Saeed sent their shots straight into the hands of Al-Shabab's goalkeeper. Ahli goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari brought Ahli back from the dead by stopping two shots of his own but veteran defender Ibrahim Hassan sealed Ahli's fate with a drive well over the crossbar.
Following the match, Ahmed Maher, Ahli's coach, claimed the Tunisian referee should have awarded a penalty kick after Walid Salaheddin was brought down. "The inexperience of the team's new players, the number of injured players and those who have retired have all compounded the situation," Maher said.
"Ahli was better in the first half because it prevented my players from scoring," Carlos Roberto, Al-Shabab's Brazilian manager, said. "But we had the upper hand from the second half onwards."
Saeed later criticised Ahli's German manager Reiner Tsobil, claiming he had not put the players through a dry run in penalty kicks in their last training, although the possibility that the game would eventually end up going to spot kicks was certainly there. "They did not train us on penalty kicks before the championship or the match," Saeed said. "We didn't even know who would shoot the penalties until after the second extra half." For his outburst, Saeed will be reportedly fined up to LE2,000 by the club.
So low did Ahli's fortunes dive in the tournament that the club could not even win the fair play award, given to teams committing the least number of fouls, having finished in fifth place with zero points.
Ahli had qualified for the semi-finals after drawing with Bahrain's Al-Refaa and Tunisia's Olympic 1-1 each and beating Syria's Al-Geish 2-0 for five points and a second-place finish in the group. In Group B, Kuwait's Salmiya clinched the second spot behind Al-Shabab, even though the Kuwaitis upset the eventual winners 1-0. Both teams ended up with six points but Al-Shabab took the top spot in the group through a better goal average.
