Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports | A nation divided

		8 - 14 August 2002 Issue No. 598 Sports	Current issue Previous issue Site map
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A nation divided
In the first step of Egypt's journey towards the African League's Champion title, one team won, and another lost. Abeer Anwar reports on Zamalek's leap, and Ahly's fall

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Zamalek beat ASEC's of Ivory Coast 3-1 in their opening group match of the African Champions League in Cairo
Winning the World Cup is one thing in the football world, but clinching the African Champions title is most certainly -- to the nations of the African League -- a significant other. The opening route to the title brought about mixed emotions for Egyptian fans.
In Zamalek's kick-start top success, striker Abdel-Halim Ali scored a hat-trick as the team triumphed 3-1 over ASEC of the Ivory Coast on Friday in the opening group match.
Abdel-Halim, who failed to find the target in four qualifiers, struck twice within five minutes midway through the first half and sealed success with a goal three minutes before stoppage time.
Just before his final strike, ASEC came unnervingly close to equalising as a free- kick from Nantcho Koutouan was acrobatically pushed over the bar by goalkeeper Abdel-Wahed.
It was a match of two halves with four- time African champion Zamalek dominating the first before a medium-sized crowd at Cairo Stadium. Zamalek sealed the first-half 2-0.
The second-half started on a slightly different note. Zamalek -- popularly known as the All Whites -- lost control from the outset and ASEC reduced arrears after 61 minutes when an attempted clearance by Bahyer Al-Tabay struck substitute Mamadou Dansoko and landed in the net.
The tides quickly changed, however, and ASEC -- winners of the premier African club competition in 1998 -- forced eight corners during the second half and Zamalek narrowly escaped conceding a second goal on several occasions before Abdel-Halim made sure to silence the possibility of that thought.
Abdel-Halim had already made his intentions known less than a minute into the match. The stream of goals started when Abdel-Halim fired a half-chance over from a good position inside the penalty area. He then struck a tame shot at veteran Ivorian goalkeeper Losseni Konate as ASEC struggled to contain the North Africans and captain Abdoulaye Djire was cautioned by Mauritian referee Lim Kee Chong.
Zamalek won their first corner after 21 minutes and it triggered the breakthrough with the ball flicked across goal to the far post where Abdel-Halim out-jumped a rival to score with a header that went in off the hands of Konate.
The second Egyptian goal is likely to be a serious contender for the best of the Champions League with a superb pass from Abdel Tamer setting veteran striker Hossam Hassan free, and his cross was turned in by Halim with 25 minutes gone. And then he struck again -- racing ahead of several defenders, Halim tapped a low cross beyond Konate.
It was a unanimously applauded spectacular array of goals by the Zamalek team. By contrast, ASEC's only goal was a sloppy affair as the home team fluffed several attempts to clear a corner before Besheer Al-Tabay blundered and Dansoko added to the solitary goal scored in the qualifying rounds.
Things were not quite as sound for the other darling team of Egyptian football. As they began their defence of the coveted Champions' League trophy, African champions Ahly got off to an unprecedented catastrophic start, being struck down with a 2-1 defeat by Senegalese outfits Jeanne d'Arc.
Under the helm of new Dutch manager Jo Bonfrere, the team, said to be the group one favourites, looked like shadows of a team that stormed the pitch to claim the continental prize four months ago. Their appearance this time was uncharacteristically uncaptivating -- ending the first 45 minutes trailing their visitors 1-0, courtesy of a 42nd-minute close-range effort by Da Costa who capitalised on a defensive blunder by keeper Essam El-Hadari to beat him to the near post, following only the second corner for his side in the first-half.
The "Ahlawiyas", as they are known, claimed a slight midfield upper-hand in the first-half, but it was far from enough to topple the visitors' 3-5-2 scheme of play. They quickly cracked, and then broke Ahly's composure to the complete shock of the 32,000 home crowd.
It appeared as though Ahly had already given out its last breath, but Ahmed Bilal gave a signal that there was still life for the African champs when he brought both sides on level terms right after the restart. Bilal banged home the equaliser from a diving header past the advanced keeper. To his dismay, his 66th-minute effort was ruled off-side by Libyan referee Mohamed Al-Shelmani.
Then things changed fast. Just one minute later, Al-Ahly saw their opponents punishing them on the break; a fabulous counter-attack on the right flank provided Diaw with the simple mission of beating a hazardous El-Hadari again for the second time in the night, connecting with a lightning pass from the sizzling Pape Diop to force the ball home, 2-1 for the visitors.
Dutchman Bonfrere made three substitutions later in an effort to save his side's grace. It came to no avail, with Ahmed Bilal and Khaled Bibo missing two unbeatable opportunities to claim an equaliser.
As the final whistle was called, and the Senegalese team cheered themselves off the pitch, Ahly heads hung low. Their opponents' play that day was far too strong to take.
"We played a very good tactical match," said Jeanne d'Arc's coach after the game. "We have great respect for Ahly, but we were able to control the gam's tempo. I am proud of my boys."
In other Champions League action, TP Mazembe have striker Mulangu Bafwafwa to thank for earning them a vital three points against Raja Casablanca in the African Champions League on Saturday.
Bafwafwa scored both with his head, just a few minutes into the first half and then mid-way through the second. He was able to rise unopposed at the near post to nod home a corner past goalkeeper Mohamed Bouabdeliaoui for his first. The striker scored again by stooping low to steer home into the far corner.
Raja came desperately close to levelling on two occasions, but the second goal demoralised the three-time champions. In front of the 40,000 crowd, they not once gave glimpses of coming back into the game.
The pitch worked against the Moroccans too. The hard, bumpy surface forced them to discard their usual passing game in favour of the route-one style, at which Mazembe were the far more adept.
Noureddine Kacemi and Hicham Misbah both went close for Raja, but luck was against them. While this is a great result for Mazembe which leaves the group wide open, it was not a great advert for Africa's top club competition.
In the other first-round Group B match, Minnows Costa do Sol of Mozambique host former champions Esperance of Tunisia at Machava Stadium in Maputo on Sunday.
It was a mixed bag of results for the nations of Africa on the whole, but for Egypt, the blow came extra hard. Ahly, fans and critics would have confidently announced to the world, is in tip-top form. As always, however, there was one winner, and one loser. And this time, it was Ahly's turn to fall.

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