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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A league for all seasons
Long in the tooth and far short on bite, the 1999-2000 football season finally called it a day.
Stumbling across the finish line on Monday were all 14 clubs forced to concede to preposterously long stretches of inaction due to national team and club commitments. The 11-month-long season saw so many periods of inactivity that the number of stoppage days probably equaled or even exceeded actual playing time. The result was, on record, the longest season yet and in the opinion of many, the dullest. Few if any teams were able to keep in step with the on-again, off-again games which reduced skill and fitness level to a bare minimum. No player or team was able to play consistently solid football. As the year blew hot and cold so, too, did the clubs.
The eventual winner of the marathon was Ahli, claiming the Click-GSM-sponsored season for the seventh consecutive year with 60 points, six ahead of Ismaili which replaced Zamalek, perennial runners-up, in second place. Zamalek packed it in with 52 points, its third place finish dropping it out of the CAF championship next season.
Kolibali tries to evade an oncoming Mohamed Farouk, right, Ahli goalkeeper, Essam El-Hadari, atop the crossbar, celebrates following the match
photos:Mohamed Wassim
At the bottom of the table, signing off from the premier division was Suez, Sharqiya and Aluminium, all relegated to the second division.
In Cairo Stadium on Monday, the endgame saw Ahli and Zamalek play to a scoreless draw. A surprising turnout, 60,000, was not disappointed in a match that had little meaning. Fact is, it was one of the more exciting encounters between the two downtown rivals in the past few years. Ahli created the more chances, particularly in the first half when Walid Salaheddin clipped the left post following a goalmouth scramble.
Against the run of play, Zamalek could have gone ahead had a header by Kolibali not been pushed away on the goal line by Said Abdel-Aziz.
Second half play dwindled steadily, with both teams appearing satisfied with the result.
"I am quite satisfied with the performance of my players," Reiner Tsobil told reporters. Ahli's German coach said both sides produced a good game but added Ahli should have finished off its opponent when it had the chance. "This kind of performance gives me confidence about our African match next week," Tsobil said, referring to Ahli's away match against Ghana's Hearts of Oak in the African Champions League next Sunday.
Asked why he substituted Salaheddin at the end of the first half, Tsobil said the decision was made ahead of the match. "I told Walid I would give him the chance to play for 20 minutes," Tsobil said, adding he gave the often brilliant but rarely used midfielder an extra 20 minutes in view of his in-form display.
The match did not overly impress Zamalek's German coach Otto Pfister. "I expected a better performance from both sides," he said. Pfister, Zamalek's fourth coach this year, said he thought he had a successful season, having whittled the 13 points that separated Ahli and Zamalek when he took over down to eight.
Ismaili routed Suez 5-1 in Suez to nudge Zamalek out of second place and Suez out of the first division. Ismaili's John Otaka, a Nigerian import, scored two goals to up his tally to 17 to win the scoring title.
Canal thrashed already relegated Sharqiya 5-0 and Mansoura edged Aluminium, another team which hung its boots up, 1-0. Ittihad of Alexandria snatched a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Dina, Misri downed Maadin 2-0 and Kouroum played to a 1-1 draw with the Arab Contractors in Alexandria.
