11 - 17 April 2002
Issue No.581
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 11 - 17 April 2002 Issue No.581 |
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Half-time
Great for the game
This year's race for the domestic league soccer title is the tightest in recent memory. So, too, is the area at the bottom of the table which is cluttered with teams desperately trying to avoid relegation. Both situations have injected badly needed excitement into Egyptian football whose reputation has taken a thrashing at the international level.
Atop the standings, a three-way race has shaped up which could go down to the wire. Ismaili are currently perched precariously at the top with 46 points, three more than defending champions Zamalek. Breathing hard down their necks are Ahli with 41 points but with a game in hand. With only eight matches left in the season, every game will be viewed by the three contenders as a life or death proposition.
There are no other challengers to the crown; in fourth place is Tersana with just 27 points. Still, this is the first time in years that three clubs -- not one or two -- have a genuine opportunity to win the title.
The attempt to avoid relegation involves not three teams but an astonishing 10 in the 14-team league. Eleven points separate fifth place Mehalla from bottom of the table Sohag. While Sohag could close the gap considerably, neither they nor Mansoura, in 13th place, have a realistic chance of remaining in the Premier League. The club in 12th spot will also exit the bright lights of the Premiership but a big question mark hangs over who that will be. Misri occupies the seat in question with 16 points, but two clubs are only two points ahead, two more squads have 19 points and three have just 21.
The very fact that so many teams are so close to the relegation zone is clear proof of their weakness. However, it is uncertain how the lower rungs will ultimately look like -- it could end up in any number of ways. The battle to stay in the Premiership has thus been enthralling to follow.
On the other side, the race uptown is a refreshing change from the hammerlock hold Ahli and Zamalek have had on the Premiership. During the past decade, the teams have shared the title 10 times between them, a stretch that saw Ahli win it an unprecedented seven consecutive years. Only Ismaili managed to squeeze into this elite club when it captured the league in 1991.
The interest generated by who will reach the finish line and who will be finished once and for all has helped ease the pain of supporters let down by the national side which dealt them a double blow: not going to this year's World Cup and the early exit from the African Nations Cup.
Watching the World Cup will revive memories of what might have been. But as the domestic league heats up on both ends, the World Cup is right now the farthest thing from many Egyptian minds.
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