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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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First Africa, and now this
By Abeer Anwar
No sooner had Egyptian football club Misri lost in the semi-final of the African Cup Winners Cup when the scenario was repeated, this time in the Arab version of the competition.
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Books Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The hard luck side from Port Said lost a heartbreaker to Ittihad of Qatar 2-1 on Tuesday following an overtime golden goal in the semi-finals of the Arab Cup Winners Cup currently being played in Kuwait.
The two teams had played to a 1-1 draw following regulation time before the Qatari team snatched victory 10 minutes into extra time, courtesy of a miss-timed attempt to clear the ball by goalkeeper Essam Abdel-Azim, newly acquired from Ittihad of Alexandria.
Ittihad had opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a header, followed soon by Misri's Hamad Ibrahim being sent off for dissent.
Despite playing a man short Misri levelled the score with a well-timed volley by Walid Abul-Ela in the 65th minute. But the Qataris attacked vigorously in extra time, their relentless assaults finally paying off.
Today's final in Kuwait, between Ittihad and Syria's Al-Geish, ensures that for the first time in the 10-year history of the competition, a North African team will not be hoisting the trophy.
The loss also meant that in the span of two miserly months for Egyptian football fans, three clubs -- Misri, Ahli and Zamalek -- were kicked out of five major club championships, three African and two Arab tournaments.
For Misri, the tournament was a chance at redemption following the now infamous second-leg 4-0 thrashing it received at the hands of Tunisia's Al-Afriqi in the African Cup Winners Cup last month. But it was apparent that the 1998 cup champions have been unable to shake off the devastating loss, which occurred on home ground no less.
Prior to the competition, new Misri Manager Mimi Abdel-Razek, in place of Mohsin Saleh who resigned in disgrace, said the players had put the defeat behind them. "The players want to win the title and give a good impression since it is the first time they enter such an event," Abdel-Razek had said.
In its opening match, Misri drew 2-2 with Kuwait's Al-Qadisia which signed up a Croatian player for only 14 days, the duration of the event. Misri played with 10 players for almost 50 minutes after Walid El-Sayed was shown the red card for tackling.
Misri then drew 0-0 with Al-Faisali, the black horse of the championship, labelled so after the Jordanian club beat Al-Qadisia 2-0 to qualify to the semi-finals.
Al-Faisali topped Group A. Qatar's Ittihad had finished atop Group B after beating Al-Riyad 3-1, defending champion Moulidiat Wahran of Algeria, 4-1 and drawing 1-1 with Al-Geish. Al-Geish beat Al-Riyad 2-1, tied 1-1 with Ittihad and lost to Moulidiat Wahran 2-1.
