13 - 19 December 2001
Issue No.564
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 13 - 19 December 2001 Issue No.564 |
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Confident as ever
Despite being tripped up in mid-week, Zamalek are confident they can repeat their soccer league victory of a season ago. Alaa Shahine explains
Zamalek's assistant coach Helmi Toulan has insisted his side are in cruise-control in their campaign to defend the league title they won last season after a seven- year drought, despite stumbling to a 1-1 road tie against middle of the table Baladiyet Mehalla on Friday.
"We are on track to defend the title and we have confidence in our capabilities. All we need is the full support of the fans," he said. Despite the surprising tie against Baladiyet Mehalla, Zamalek are still on top of the standings with 27 points after 11 games, but their lead over strong challengers Ismaili was shaved to one point. Ismaili remained hot on the their heels with a come from behind 3-1 victory against neighbours Qanah and still have a match in hand at home against Ahli.
Should the Dervishes beat Ahli they will move ahead of Zamalek but that did not seem to concern Toulan, at least for the time being. "It is a long campaign and nobody should expect we win each and every match but we will do our best," he said.
Against Baladiyet Mehalla, Toulan added "The players were clearly out of form but were victimised by the referee for awarding Baladiyet Mehalla an undeserved penalty."
Zamalek are hoping to get back to winning ways when they take on struggling Misri on Saturday at Cairo Stadium. The Port Said outfit are languishing near the bottom of the standings with nine points following a shock 2-1 home defeat against Goldi.
They will face an arduous task against Zamalek who will enter the match with veteran striker Hossam Hassan back in the starting lineup after missing Baladiyet Mehalla's encounter due to a leg injury.
Second place Ismaili will face Baladiyet Mehalla while Sohag host Ahli. The Red Devils are in fourth with 16 points but have three matches in hand due to their commitments in the African Champions League.
In spite of Ahli's triumph in the African championship that saw the famed Cairo side on the verge of recapturing the title, Sohag's boss, Gamal Abdel- Hamid, said he hoped to end his team's winless streak against his formidable adversary. "We always do our best at home against big teams," he said, pointing to Sohag's 3-3 tie against Zamalek in the fifth round.
Sohag have not won a match this year and the newly-promoted side is in 13th place with eight points. "I know we need to collect more points to survive and I hope we can bag a victory before the end of the first leg," Abdel-Hamid added.
Ghazl El-Mehalla will face Qanah, Arab Contractors host Ittihad, Ghazl El- Suez play Mansoura, while Goldi take on dark horses Tersana who are surprisingly in third on 18 points.
Tersana's latest success was an impressive 3-1 victory over Mansoura at home. The win came courtesy of a brace by Mohamed Abu Treika and a neatly- taken effort by Ahmed Abdel-Zaher, while the visitors' consolation goal came through Ashraf Khamis.
Other action in the same round saw Ghazl El-Suez edge past Arab Contractors 1-0 at home and Ittihad playing to a 1-1 tie against Sohag, but the excitement was elsewhere.
In Ismailia, the Dervishes came from a goal back to beat Qanah 3-1 in the always exciting Suez Canal zone derby. Hassan Moussa started things moving for Qanah before the interval when he headed home past Mohamed Sobhi.
It was the first goal Ismaili conceded this season, preventing Sobhi from breaking the record set by Ahli's Ikrami in the 1974-75 season when he maintained a clean sheet for 13 consecutive matches. But the goal seemed to have taken an enormous burden off Ismaili's shoulders. Apparently no longer worried about breaking the record, the Dervishes played with much greater freedom as they roamed beyond their goal-mouth area they had protected for so long. They responded immediately after the break when defender Emad El-Nahhas headed in from close range and Mohamed Salah Abu Greisha put them in the lead midway through the second half.
The best was yet to come, though. The victory was sealed by one of the season's extraordinary efforts by inspired midfielder Mohamed Barakat. Receiving the ball on his chest on the right side of the box he unleashed a thunderous volley into the far left post, all in one swoop, past stranded keeper Mustafa Kamal.
On the same day, Zamalek's run for a second straight league crown was stalled by Baladiyet Mehalla following a 1-1 tie. Zamalek were first to light up the scoreboard in the 34th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick by referee Mohamed El-Sayed after striker Gamal Hamza was obstructed by Khaled Galal.
Hazem Imam duly dispatched the ball home, scoring his seventh goal to rank second in the league scoring title along with Ismaili's Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni. Both trail top marksman Hossam Hassan who has eight goals. However, lacking the services of the injured Hassan, and with Imam out in the second half because of injury as well, the defending champions lost their rhythm.
The hosts pulled off the equaliser in the 70th minute when they, too, were awarded a penalty, but a disputed one, as Mohamed Abul-Ela appeared to have been playing for the ball when he tackled Baladiyet Mehalla's Mohamed Samir.
Mohamed Sallam took the spot kick and made no mistake, bringing things back to square one. Samir might have made it 2-1 a few minutes later, but his spectacular shot was tipped away in even more spectacular fashion by Mohamed Abdel-Monsef.
Zamalek launched an all-out assault in the end to grab the three points but Baladiyet Mehalla's resolute defence kept their attempts at bay.
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