25 - 31 January 2001
Issue No.518
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 25 - 31 January 2001 Issue No.518 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
By a whisker
By a hair's breadth Egypt failed to win a four-nation soccer tournament in Iran after going down to Italy on penalties.
Tarek El Saeed dribbles past
The teams drew 1-1 at the end of regulation time after veteran Hossam Hassan equalised in the waning minutes of the game. Italy, whose line-up included mainly juniors, had taken an early lead through a penalty.
Hassan's goal, following a massive blunder by the goalkeeper who failed to hold on to a facile high ball, was not enough to prevent an eventual loss from the spot. Ahmed Hassan had his relatively soft shot saved while a left-footed attempt by defender Mohamed Youssef went well wide of the mark. The missed opportunities overshadowed successful efforts by Ibrahim Saeed, Hani Ramzi and Hazim Emam.
Egypt rarely penetrated the Italians, famed for their watertight defense. Their strategy left coach Mahmoud El-Gohari nothing to do but look ahead to Morocco -- and probably a similar tightly-marked game -- on 28 January in a crucial World Cup qualifier.
Consolation for him and the rest of the team was $50,000 in prize money. The Italians left Tehran $100,000 richer.
The 4-3 penalty loss marred what had been up until then a successful January which saw four consecutive wins, including victory against China in the Iranian tournament's first game.
The Great Wall of China kept the Pharaohs at bay, but a penalty shootout then went the other way round for Egypt which won 3-2.
Iran took third after trouncing the Chinese 4-0. Ali Daiee scored Iran's first goal in the 12th minute and Mohamed Reda Almehdawi and Amir Ebada made it 3-0 at half-time. Eyad Allah Akyari capped the rout with a strike in the 81st minute.
El-Gohari has less than a week to fill the obvious cracks in his team before the Moroccan encounter. The refurbishing will be done in Ismailia's Olympic village.
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