21 - 27 June 2001
Issue No.539
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 June 2001 Issue No.539 |
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Egyptian beats world's best
"Awww, nice skill, son!" say English youths to each other, in mock cockney accents, when trying to imitate the majestic footballing talents of national captain David Beckham. They should now learn to say it in Arabic: for the world's "choicest" player is an Egyptian. Hazim Emam, of Egyptian champions Zamalek, beat David Beckham, and a platoon of other world stars, in a sponsored skills contest organised by Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson last Friday, writes Jasper Thornton.
In a test of ball-juggling, dribbling, passing and free kicks, Emam showed Beckham, the former runner-up for World Player of the Year, former World Player of the Year, Brazil's Rivaldo and team- mate Roberto Carlos, and other stars including Dwight Yorke, Juan Sebastian Veron and Rui Costa, that he could "play a bit." Emam took 111 points in the all- star competition, while Beckham, who came third after Emam and a Vietnamese nobody, could only manage 85. The England captain and European Cup winner, who sunk Greece in a World Cup qualifying match last week with a sublime free kick that left watchers gasping, performed shockingly in the free kick and passing tests, and slipped in the dribbling test. Emam, formerly of Udinese, by contrast, put in a near flawless exhibition. Observers described Beckham as looking "a little off-colour," while Yorke, of Manchester United, described Emam's skill as "a total surprise." Rumours of a swap deal in which Emam will head to Old Trafford, while the England captain finishes his career by trading his plush home in Buckinghamshire for a flat in downtown Cairo, have yet to be confirmed.
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