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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 April 2000 Issue No. 476 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 April 2000 Issue No. 476
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Summit Features Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters African conquests
By Abeer Anwar
Each of them has had his name etched on at least one African trophy. But Ahli, Zamalek and Ismaili are hardly resting on their laurels. The football clubs, the top three in Egypt, got off to a flying start in their African championships in search of more pieces of coveted hardware.
All three clubs got by first round opponents in second-leg action although two, Ahli and Ismaili, lost in away games. In both cases the Egyptian teams' better goal average proved to be the decisive factor.
The only victorious team in the second leg was Zamalek which pummelled Tanzania's Young Africans 4-0 in the Cup Winners' Cup. In Tanzania, the teams had levelled 1-1 but in Cairo, Zamalek was foot loose for almost the entire duration.
Ismail Kolibali, Zamalek's Malian import, was in full gear and opened the scoring in the 20th minute after his initial shot rebounded back to him. Kolibali had a hand in goal No 2 after his chip hit the post and was easily tapped in by an unmarked Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni in the 31st minute.
Khaled El-Ghandour scored his team's third goal in the 78th minute when space was made for him on the left flank. Abdel-Halim Ali lobbed the fourth in the 88th minute after beating the goalkeeper and a defender for the ball as he lunged for a cross.
"It was a good match and they applied our attacking plan perfectly," Otto Pfister, Zamalek's German coach, said. "I am satisfied with the team's attacking spirit because I hate to be on the defensive."
Ismaili, which got the ball rolling by becoming the first Egyptian club to win an African cup, achieving the feat in the 1969 Champions League, somehow contrived to lose 3-2 to Al-Mahalla of Libya in the CAF Cup after demolishing the same team 5-1 in the first leg in Ismailia.
Although it was not compelled to do so, Ismaili started the match on the defensive while Al-Mahala began with an all-out attack in a desperate effort to catch up.
Algerian referee Kamal Barbara was obliging, awarding Al-Mahalla a dubious penalty kick following what looked like a clear offside. Barbara also failed to control a rowdy bunch of fans who hurled glass bottles and stones at the Ismaili bench. Ismailia answered with a penalty of its own, converted by Islam El-Shater in the 21st minute.
In the second half, Al-Mahalla scored again and a third goal was on offer but for some sloppy finishing by the Libyans. Mahmoud Barakat tied the score but Al-Mahalla had the final word in the dying seconds.
"We were about to win but the players lost interest," Ismaili coach Mohsen Salah said, referring to what he said was the referee's wrong calls.
In Kenya, Ahli lost 1-0 to Tusker FC in the African Champions League and could have found itself out of the competition altogether if not for some stalwart defending near the end.
Having won 3-1 in the first leg, a draw or even a 1-0 loss would have seen Ahli through although surely that was not the way the club would have liked to advance. But that's how it eventually turned out as George Finer scored the lone goal in the 59th minute in front of a capacity crowd allowed into the Moi International Sports Centre for free. The goal, misplayed by goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari, significantly raised Tusker's hopes of a second goal that would have knocked Ahli out of the competition. But a solid defensive wall kept Tusker at bay till the end.
