5 - 11 July 2001
Issue No.541
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 5 - 11 July 2001 Issue No.541 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Half-time
Two out of three
Two out of three, as they say, ain't bad. Egypt did not do as well as was hoped for against Morocco in a World Cup qualifying game but did well enough to reach the semi-finals of the under-20 World Youth Cup and World Military Championship.
Egypt's 1-0 loss to Morocco in Rabat on Saturday was not especially surprising. We haven't been able to beat it in 15 years and have not defeated the North Africans on their home turf in almost 40 years of trying. The trend continued even though we certainly had enough opportunities to score at least once. But as in so many previous encounters with the Atlas Lions, Egypt simply couldn't find the net while Morocco won by producing the bare minimum. In 90 minutes, the Moroccans took exactly one shot on goal but they made it count.
Now Egypt must do what it claimed from the outset of the qualifiers it would not: depend on somebody else to do the work for it. If Egypt is to qualify for the World Cup, it must win its final two games against Namibia and Algeria and, just as vital, hope and pray that Senegal can beat Morocco in Dakar.
The loss to Morocco was offset somewhat by the youth team reaching the semi-final in the under-20 World Cup in Argentina. By beating Holland 2-1 in the quarter-finals, the squad thus went where no Egyptian football side has gone before. It is an achievement made all the more remarkable considering the 7-1 thrashing the Egyptians took at the hands of the hosts in an earlier group match.
While the youth World Cup is not nearly as prestigious as its big brother, the tournament is watched by club scouts and player agents who are drawn to an event that gives the world its first glimpse of some of the possible stars of the future. Diego Maradona, Luis Figo and Marco van Basten were all discovered in previous championships. Mohamed El- Yamani, Gamal Hamza, Abu Musalam and Wael Riad are not household names but are currently creating a stir in Argentina and whom we imagine are being closely watched by talent hunters. For them to be scooped up by European clubs would go a long way towards strengthening the senior team in future.
To be sure, the World Military Championship is threadbare when compared to most other soccer events. The tournament is missing its greatest achiever, Italy, which has taken the trophy an extraordinary eight times. Portugal, Belgium, Turkey and Kuwait are some other no-shows at this year's championship which have won it at least twice. Of those who did bother to show up only Greece, a five-time winner, plays something resembling the professional game. Hosts Egypt are in the semi-final and would have to botch up big- time in order to miss out on the final.
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