Ahli meet their match
Ajax Amsterdam broke Ahli's streak against Europe. Abeer Anwar covers the game and, below, the noble cause behind it
In 11 games versus European sides, dating from the 1960's, Ahli had lost not once. In game No.12, though, the Egyptian squad finally capitulated, going down 2-1 to Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam.
Czech midfielder Tomas Galasek and, of all ironies, Egyptian star Mido gave the three-time European champions the famous win on Friday in Cairo in the latest exhibition showdown.
Wael Gomaa brought one back for Ahli but that would be all for the day.
The loss was not a total loss since Ahli are to donate the proceeds to the Red Crescent Society as part of the game's charity logo "Children and War", held under the umbrella of the Meridian Cup, which kicked off in Egypt this week.
Cautious play marked the start of the first half with neither player on either team willing to take risks. Thus there was plenty of tight marking. Gomaa stuck to Mido like glue while Chivu did not let Ahli's top marksman Ahmed Bilal out of his sight. Ajax's Trabelsi and Mohamed Emara went eyeball-to-eyeball and Boukhari kept right fullback Yasser Radwan closely in check.
Ahli goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari was on the alert from the start, saving a cross from Galasek. But the keeper was to blame after he failed to come out of his goal for Galasek's header from a corner kick that gave Ajax the lead after 10 minutes in front of a 40,000-strong Cairo Stadium crowd.
The goal galvanised Ahli into shedding their inhibitions and playing more attacking football. They came close to equalising more than once, most notably when a shot by the advancing Gomaa slammed off the left post.
Mohamed Gouda and Mido were involved in a brief shoving match towards the end of the half but the skirmish was quickly defused by the players who broke them apart.
In the second half, Ahli's first-half attacking exploits faded, leaving it up to Ajax to fill in the gap. Because of the absence of Hossam Ghali, Ahli's midfield was so porous that Ajax players roamed at will.
A second Ajax goal seemed just a matter of time and it came, in the 75th minute. Mido let a chested ball get away but managed to steal it from Hadi Khashaba and rifled it past El-Hadari with his left foot for a 2-0 Dutch lead.
Ajax's joy was short-lived, however, as their lead was trimmed to one just one minute later. In the 76th minute Lobont failed to hold on to a ball sent in by Radwan. The ball bounced off the goalkeeper's hand onto the crossbar and back into play. Gomaa was there for the rebound and a rare goal.
Lobont appeared far below par after sitting out several matches.
Ahli went into the game hoping to extend their winning streak against big-name European clubs. They beat Real Madrid 1-0 in 2001 and defeated AS Roma 2-1 last summer. One of the squad's most famous scalp was Portugal's Benfica which lost 3-2. The game was played shortly after the 1966 World Cup heroics of Eusebio who was present against Ahli.
Aware of Ahli's exploits with foreigners, Ajax manager Ronald Koeman said his players were keen to impress and would not be taking the match lightly. "All my players are young, and at that age they are full of passion and take matters very seriously," Koeman said. "I can guarantee they will be very serious about Ahli."
Koeman, who played against Egypt in a 1-1 draw when it met Holland in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, said he would try hard not to repeat the scenario with Ahli. He added that he knew a lot about Egyptian football from his assistant, Ruud Kroll, former coach of Egypt and Ahli's great rival, Zamalek.
Concerning his much-publicised run-in with Mido at the start of the season because of a lack of playing time, Koeman drew a comparison with his marital life. "My wife and I fight although we love each other a lot. The same applies to Mido who was a bit young at the time the problem began and did not have the patience to wait and gain more experience. But all problems are over and now he is playing with the team on a regular basis."
At a press conference held on the eve of the match, Kroll said he was thrilled at being in Egypt once more and meeting old friends. "I told Koeman to be wary of Ahli because all Egyptian players are full of enthusiasm and like a challenge."
Mido, one of Europe's hottest properties, told the press conference that he would "love to score against Ahli", which is exactly what he did.
Mido, whose real name is Ahmed Hossam, quashed rumours that he would soon leave Ajax, insisting he would remain with the club until at least 2006 when his contract expires.
The match marked the end of a busy month in Egypt of playing against European stars. Zamalek beat Italian side Lazio 2-1 on 4 January and Egypt drew 1-1 with Turkish champions Galatasaray two weeks later.
