Somebody like Capral
By
Inas Mazhar
One would imagine that this year's football league trophy is one of the most precious in Zamalek's history, not least because the club was just as surprised as anyone that they won it.
So sure were the supporters of Ahli and Zamalek of the outcome of Friday's season-ending games that 20,000 came out to see Ahli play, and beat, ENPPI while only 500 made the journey to watch Zamalek vs Ismaili. Ahli was leading Zamalek by two points in the standings and seemed destined to capture their first league title in three years.
But it took just 90 minutes for Zamalek to rewrite history as the venue for all kinds of celebrations was switched at the last minute on Friday night, from Gezira, headquarters of Ahli club, to Mit Oqba, where the new champions reside.
In the seven consecutive years that Zamalek's famous rival Ahli took the league crown, starting from the 1993 season, the scenario was almost always the same: Zamalek would begin the season in striking fashion, sweeping aside all who stood in their way. By mid-season, Zamalek's lead over second place Ahli could sometimes swell to a whopping 12 points. It should for most teams mean an insurmountable lead but time and time again Ahli managed to pick up the pace in the second half of the season while Zamalek simultaneously self- destructed.
But this year was different. It was Ahli which began the season on fire, winning their first 12 games for an Egyptian record. But by the start of the second half, Ahli was stumbling badly as Zamalek ate away at their five-point lead, cutting it down to two after manhandling Ahli 3-1. They eventually overtook Ahli on the championship's last day to capture the title by the slimmest of margins: one point.
Zamalek have now won the African League Champions Cup, the Egyptian Super Cup, the African Super Cup and now the league championship -- all in one year and all under first- year head coach Capral of Brazil.
Some might consider Capral lucky but that would be an unkind and unfair description of the man. Capral proved a master tactician, outthinking most of his opposite numbers, including Ahli's Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere, a manager with a much bigger name in the football world after he steered Nigeria to the gold medal in the Atlanta Olympics of 1996, the first African country to take an Olympic football gold.
His detractors will say Bonfrere was only an assistant to the German Westerhoff who was the real brains behind Nigeria at the time. Westerhoff quit just before the Games began and Nigerian team officials had no alternative other than to give Bonfrere the reigns of power.
Bonfrere's track record is poor in general. Prior to working in Cairo, he coached Maastricht for six years, failing to win anything, then trained the UAE which finished at the bottom of the GCC championship.
Bonfrere submitted his resignation the day after Ahli lost the title. His replacement is unknown but Ahli should now have learnt the hard way that it might be wise to bring in somebody like Capral, a previous unknown who has brought the best out of his club.
