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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496
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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 Damage to be done?
By Amira Ibrahim
It is a choice which will first be put to the test tomorrow when Egypt meets Kenya in a Port Said-based friendly. The real test of coach Mahmoud El-Gohari's selection, however, will come in September, when the 24 chosen players meet Côte d'Ivoire in the African Nations Cup qualifications. The new national team -- which opened camp yesterday -- brings back seven foreign-based players from their overseas abodes, including Club Brugge's Nader El-Sayed, Kaiserslautern's Hani Ramzi and Benfica's Abdel-Sattar Sabri.
"The team will start a new stage of preparation for the African Cup qualifications," El-Gohari said, explaining the plan. After tomorrow's match, play will be assessed, and players' skills will be examined and critiqued before the Côte d'Ivoire squad is chosen. "There is a chance, still, for new faces to join the team," El-Gohari explained.
The new squad reflects the need to refresh the blood of the Egyptian national team, which has long relied on a mixture of old, "mature" players and the few professionals who joined minor European clubs. "The national team needs new blood, new talented players who are really capable and have something to give," sports critic Hassan El-Mistikawi told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We have to start rebuilding if we want a new team for the World Cup qualifications in January."
This revitallisation reflected the rising star of the Ismaili Club, which took second position in the league, thereby clinching another shot at the African Federation Cup for an unprecedented second time. Along with Arab Contractors goalkeeper Tareq Soliman, five Ismaili players joined the national team for the first time.
Not all football fans and critics, however, are happy with the choice. "It seems that El-Gohari does not keep check on the standard of the professionals he picked for the team," sports critic Alaa Sadeq, chief editor of Midan Al-Riyada weekly sports newspaper, told the Weekly. "The ones chosen are not regular players with their teams. Some of the seven players did not contribute to his team's last two games. Ramzi, for example, is playing badly at present with his club and his performance has been deteriorating during his last few games with his team," he continued.
On the other hand, he added, some local players were dropped for reasons not related to their standard or performance but due rather to personal disputes with the coach.
To Sadeq, El-Gohari's decisions border on the ridiculous. "El-Gohari dropped one of the best defenders, Rami Said, simply because the player is about to move from Arab Contractors to Ahli, which he despises," he said. "The same happened with Ahli's goalkeeper, who is definitely better than the three named to the national team."
The debate is heated. The verdict, however, will not emerge before the trial. A few matches from now, the effectiveness of El-Gohari's choice will be clear.
