4 - 10 October 2001
Issue No.554
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 4 - 10 October 2001 Issue No.554 |
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Pride on the line
An early titanic football league clash features damaged self-esteem. Alaa Shahine writes about crestfallen giants
It will be an early clash of titans with self- inflicted wounds in the Click-GSM-sponsored league season when Ismaili hosts defending champions Zamalek on Saturday.
The match comes two weeks after the two teams crashed out of the African Cup Winners Cup. Zamalek, which entered the competition as the reigning champion, lost to Tunisian Club African 3-2 on aggregate. Ismaili was knocked out by South Africa's Kaizer Chiefs on the away- goal rule after playing to a scoreless tie in Johannesburg and 1-1 in Ismailia.
Both clubs admit they let the African title slip through their fingers after achieving reasonable first-leg results. But they quickly rebounded in the league. Zamalek thrashed Goldi, formerly Maadin, 3-0 in Cairo Stadium in a display of attacking football that had deserted the team in Africa. It then won a hard-fought away 2-1 match against Mansoura. In both encounters, veteran striker Hossam Hassan netted four times to become the second top scorer in league history with 120. Hassan, who joined Zamalek along with his twin brother Ibrahim last season from Ahli in a highly controversial deal, passed Ahli's legendary striker El-Sayed El-Dezoui. Only ex- Tersana forward Hassan El-Shazli, with 176 goals, has found the net more times.
Ismaili was no less impressive in its debut game against Tersana, winning 2-0 at home with goals by rookie Kenyan import Simon Mulama and Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni. Bassiouni later contributed another goal in Ismaili's 2-0 win against Fayoum.
After beating Tersana, Ismaili coach Mohsen Saleh promised more of the same. "I am happy with the victory because we made it up to the team's fans after our African loss," he told reporters. "To me this is more important than getting three points. Our attention is now focused squarely on the league and I promise our fans we will do our best."
Other matches will feature Mehalla and Goldi, the Arab Contractors against Misri, Sohag and Tersana, Ghazl El-Suez and Baladia and Ittihad against Qanah. Ahli's match against Mansoura was postponed until December due to Ahli's commitments in the African Champions League.
Ahli, which lost the league crown to Zamalek last season following seven consecutive years on top, had the worst possible start to the season after losing to newly-promoted Ghazl El-Suez 2-0. It clinched its first three points last week with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Ittihad in Cairo.
Despite the victory, Ahli's series of half- hearted performances continues. Since its historic 1-0 victory over fabled Spanish side Real Madrid in a friendly in August, and a 3-1 road win against Angola outfit Petro Atletico in the African Champions League, Ahli has experienced a letdown of sorts, not totally unexpected. "I told everybody that defeating Real does not mean at all that we are a world class side," the team's Portuguese coach, Manuel Jose, told Al-Ahram Weekly in an interview two weeks ago. "I told the players and fans that we still have much work to do to build a promising team."
Indeed, against Ittihad, Ahli showed little of the style that helped it conquer the Spanish giants. The match's lone goal came through striker Ahmed Belal who took advantage of a rebound after goalkeeper Youssef Taher fumbled Hisham Hanafi's shot.
Belal was nearly let go by the club before the arrival of Jose in the summer. The coach insisted on keeping the young striker in his squad.
Other results saw Misri play to a 1-1 draw against newly-promoted Sohag in Ismailia. The Port Said side was forced to play away from home, without spectators, in accordance with sanctions imposed by the Egyptian Football Association after Misri supporters ran riot at the end of last season.
Tersana tied 1-1 with Mehalla and Qanah edged Ghazl El-Suez 2-1. The Arab Contractors tied 0-0 away to Baladia.
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