Moving house

Refusing to hang up their boots, the Hassans are setting up shop elsewhere, writes Mohamed El-Sayed

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The twins paid farewell to the White House

It is asked almost every season: where will Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan play? The answer this time: The 38- year-old bad boy twins of Egyptian football on Monday signed a one-year contract with Misri of Port Said. According to the terms, Hossam, the striker, will make LE500,000 ($80,000), and defender Ibrahim will receive LE300,000 ($50,000). Misri will be the third local club for the brothers and fifth squad overall.

The players decided to play for the coastal city club after negotiations with the chairman of Zamalek, Kamal Darwish, reached deadlock. The twins had asked for tax-free salaries of LE650,000 and LE500,000 for one more season. But already suffering from a financial crunch, Zamalek's board members unanimously rejected the request.

"They wanted to put Zamalek in a corner, forgetting that wearing the white jersey is a great honour for any player," said Darwish after negotiations with the twins broke down on Sunday. "I agreed to give them the amount they requested on condition that they pay taxes, but they refused."

The brothers maintained that Zamalek officials were procrastinating, "so we decided to move to Misri."

"I hope that we can help Misri regain its natural position," said Hossam, who was the most capped international player in 2002. Misri are currently seventh in the league with just one game left. The club has never won the league title and captured the cup only once.

The twins were enthusiastically received in Port Said Stadium by Misri fans on Monday. Alaa Ibrahim and Hani Kamel relinquished their jerseys bearing the twins' favourite numbers, nine and two and Misri captain Abdallah Ragab handed his arm band to Hossam.

The brothers, the oldest Egyptian footballers, played for the Greek club Bauk following their appearance in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. They then played for Neuchatel of Switzerland before returning to their boyhood club Ahli in 1994.

In all the brothers played 12 years for Ahli before they moved to arch-rivals Zamalek in one of the most sensational switches in local league history. The Hassans signed for the White House in August 2000 for LE1.2 million. They rekindled a spirit that had long died out in Zamalek helping the club to 11 championships, one-third of the tournaments Zamalek have won throughout their 93-year history. Interestingly, since their departure from Ahli, the Red Devils, who have more league titles than anyone else, have failed to win the crown for four consecutive years.

The twins had several well-publicised run-ins with coaches, the latest being with the Portuguese Vingada who began his tenure in Zamalek a year ago. After the Arab Championship in August, Hossam declared he was leaving since "Vingada's tactics do not suit me, they do not provide support for the attackers as they depend on midfielders in scoring." But Zamalek's board members mediated between the players and the coach, persuading them to stay.

Nevertheless, in the first match in the league against Mehalla, Vingada kept Ibrahim on the sidelines and substituted Hossam in the second half, a matter that pushed the latter to charge at him on the sidelines. Hossam did not play until last March in a match in the Arab Champions League against Maulodiyat of Algeria. Ibrahim appeared in an insignificant encounter against Sfax of Tunisia in April in Cairo.

Although Vingada leaves Zamalek tomorrow, the twins were determined long before to head for pastures new. Perhaps this will be their last stop unless they want to follow in the footsteps of Stanley Matthews, the famed Briton who played well into his 50s.