Issue No. 600
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22 - 28 August 2002 Issue No. 600 Sports |
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Egypt's mish-mash of matches
In the nation's African journey, Zamalek's triumphs were coupled with Ahli's tribulations. Abeer Anwar reports
In the bumpy path to the end stages of this year's African Champion's League, Egyptian giants Zamalek clinched a hard-earned 1-1 draw away to Espérance Tunisia, confirming themselves one of the clear favourites to reach the semi-final stage of the competition.
The match was in a league beyond tough, with the two teams fighting it out on Tunisian turf until the final whistle call. In an attempt to save grace and consolidate their match play and strength, Esperance called an injury time goal. Unfortunately, it was promptly overruled. It was bad news, but things got even worse: Referee Abdel Rahim El- Arjoune was attacked by a Tunisian fan towards the end of the game after he disallowed Kanida Traore's last strike for offside. As a result, the Tunisians may face sanctions from African football's ruling body CAF. El-Arjoune was also verbally attacked by Esperance players after the closing whistle.
The priceless away draw came following Zamalek's inaugural 3-1 home win over Ivory Coast outfits ASEC Abidjan in Cairo -- a seemingly reformed persona for the all-whites under the guide of the team's new manager, Brazilian Carlos Alberto Cabral. In front of a 40,000 person crowd -- the majority slamming the visiting Egyptians -- goalie Abdul Wahed Al-Sayed saved his team on two occasions, before veteran striker Hossam Hassan put them 1-0 up after 21 minutes.
While Al-Sayed and Hassan put out their usual spectacular play,
Walid Abdul Latif was unquestionably one of the liveliest Egyptian players of the night. In a top- notch counter-attack, Latif fed Hassan with a pin- pointed long cross for the centre-forward, beating the advanced keeper with ease, and silencing a horrified crowd.
That move seemed to do the trick, with Zamalek taking near control over the game. A few odd lapses came when the Egyptians were denied the luxury of aggravating the score; missing a second goal from the penalty spot after 35 minutes -- keeper Jean-Jacques Tiézi denied skipper Medhat Abdul Hadi the chance to up the half-time score, and the hosts ended the first 45 minutes trailing their opponents 1-0.
Espérance went on the rampage after the restart, squandered a host of clear-cut opportunities before claiming the equaliser in the 66th minute when Senegalese Omar Sané found the back of the net from a goal mouth melee, to the delight of the anxious audience. And they looked to secure the third match point, when Kanida Traoré beat the vigilant Al-Sayed in Zamalek goal. His effort, however, was ruled out for off-side by El-Arjoune of Morocco, as the game ended all-square 1-1.
It wasn't quite the ideal ending, and for some, the end came far too soon. Zamalek's veteran Hassan limped off pitch near the end of the first half. Overall, however, the team was satisfied with the result.
"We played in a hostile atmosphere," Hassan said, "but we got used to it. I believe that Zamalek and Esperance have the best odds in this group and I hope I can be fit for the next game."
The host party were also content with the outcome of the draw.
"We were playing against a tough team," said Tunisian defender Beshir Mogaadi. "They surprised us with their leading goal. We played better in the second half but we were not lucky enough to win."
For Egypt's other team on that same path to African Champion's League glory, things were not quite so satisfying. In front of 27,000 fans, the defending title holders, Ahli, were handed their second defeat in the group stage of the competition; this time a 2-1 loss away to Raja Casablanca of Morocco.
The narrow defeat, coming two weeks after the stunning 2-1 home loss to Senegalese outfits Jeanne d'Arc, means the Red Devils are now lying at the rock-bottom spot of Group 1 table standings, with no points from two matches. Surprisingly, Mazembe of Congo currently lead the table with their maximum six points following their astounding 1-0 win away to Jeanne d'Arc in Dakar on Sunday.
The visiting Ahli looked intimidated by the hostile atmosphere in the first-half which ended goalless -- their lone clear-cut chance being badly squandered by Ahli's Angolan Schemer Avelino Lopez who hit the side-net despite a super serving by all-rounder Hossam Ghali in the dying minutes of the first half. While the Egyptian defense managed to contain the hosts' constant pressure right from the game's whistle of "Go", keeper Essam El-Hadary also did a sturdy job parrying away three fabulous chances for Raja Casablanca.
The control was short-lived and things turned drastically worse for Ahli after the restart -- Raja re-appearing in altered form. Showing composure and cohesion in mid-field, Raja broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute through defender Abdul Latif Grande following a silly tackle by Ibrahim Saeed into his own penalty area on striker Felix Endende.
Attempting to save the game, Dutch manager Jo Bonfrere rushed Mohamed Abou-Mosallem and Mohamed Farouq into action, but as Ahli moved forward, their rear-guard was faced with fierce counter-attacks, off which Hisham Abou-Sharwan solidified Raja's position after connecting with a brilliant through-ball from the sizzling Mater down the right flank, to beat El-Hadary from close-range.
Mohamed Emara squandered for the visitors from the penalty spot, two minutes into stoppage time, after being floored in Raja's 18-yard box, firing the ball high in the sky, before Ahmed Bilal netted a meaningless goal for Al-Ahli following a splendid individual effort, taking the score to 2-1 for Raja.
Defeat always comes hard. But for Ahli, this time, it brings with at extra-hard task. The team face a mammoth task if they are to become the first African champions since Tout Puissant Englebert of the Democratic Republic of Congo -- now Mazembe -- in 1968, to successfully defend the title. Ironically, Mazembe are their next opponents on 30 August in Cairo, and only a handsome win will suffice for the three-time winners. Even then, an Ahli squad coached by Jo Bonfrere will probably have to beat Mazembe again in Central Africa, Jeanne d'Arc in Senegal and Raja in Egypt, to reach the semi-finals. A task the fans are now wondering if the Red Devils can successfully undertake.
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