Issue No. 602
Sports
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5 - 11 September 2002 Issue No. 602 Sports |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Half-time
No vacation on this island
Three wins and a loss is Egypt's record in recent friendlies under new Egyptian coach Mohsen Saleh. But 7 September will mark the real test for the national football team. On Saturday, the country will start its African Nations Cup (ANC) qualifying campaign for the 2004 tournament with a game against the far-off island of Madagascar.
Saleh, who took over the team at the beginning of July, has an enormous burden on his shoulders. Egypt failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and had a bad outing at the ANC in Mali also this year. He took over from Mahmoud El-Gohari who was severely attacked in the local press for the double failures. Saleh looks to avoid a similar fate but already the newspapers have lunged.
Even before playing a single official match Saleh came under fire for refusing to add any of Egypt's European-based players to the roster. He claimed they were not good enough and gave as evidence the fact that if they were as good as their reputations they would have taken Egypt to the World Cup in Korea and Japan when they were on the team. Instead, Saleh has depended mainly on newcomers, which he described as promising, and domestic league players who, in truth, do not appear to be less in standard than Egyptians in Europe.
Egypt and Saleh should have no problems against Madagascar. A 3-0 score is the least to expect even though the game is being played far from the cozy confines of Cairo Stadium. And following the withdrawal of Guinea Bissau, only Madagascar and Mauritius are left. Neither can boast of giving Egypt sleepless nights.
But if things do go wrong for the Pharaohs, critics will definitely pounce on the LE800,000 that the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has spent, on Saleh's suggestion, on the team in only two months. The money went into training camps in Ismailia, Alexandria and Romania and covered the expenses of the four warm-up games Egypt played en route to Madagascar. The association paid the air fares and accommodation for Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Libya. Egypt's results against them were better than average but the sum which was spent was unacceptable by the standards of the average Egyptian.
Egypt goes to Madagascar with a very good chance of winning and eventually making it to the 2004 ANC. It has the best qualifying record for ANC championships in Africa, so that should be a big morale booster. However, its 1-0 loss to Libya in its final tune-up last week should also temper any overconfidence its players might have.
Overconfidence would not characterise Saleh whose contract is due to expire at the end of the ANC championship. It could be renewed depending on what Egypt does two years from now. It could also be terminated should the performance of today not be up to par.
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