Goal rush

The Red Devils showered the Dervishes with half-a-dozen goals, leaving the quiet coastal city at sixes and sevens. Mohamed El-Sayed writes from Ismailia

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Ismaili goalkeeper Mohamed Fathi sits shellshocked. Barakat, right, tried not to look too happy after scoring

Sunset in Ismailia Stadium. The stands are a sea of blue and yellow flags, except for a 2,000- strong corner covered with red flags -- those of the visiting Ahli fans. Ismaili's fervent fans began to flock to the downtown stadium four hours before game time at 6pm. Having filled the 25,000-strong arena, the yellow faithful were yearning for a special event that takes place once a year, at least on their turf -- the derby between Ismaili and Ahli in the 25th round of the national football league.

The long awaited game had been the talk of the town throughout the week. Ismailia residents consider their club's fixture against Ahli, the capital's club and Egypt's most famous and crowned football team, a championship unto itself. It didn't matter that their team had come up empty- handed in this season's championship; nor did they care much about their early exit from the Egyptian Cup in the first round, at the hands of a second division team no less. Achieving victory over Egypt's richest football powerhouse would be a source of pride for the inhabitants of the small governorate that little else could equal.

In the end, the game was indeed the talk of the town, but for all the wrong reasons. Ahli trounced Ismaili 6-0, inflicting one of the worst defeats in memory in Ismailia. Adding insult to injury, Ahli midfielder Mohamed Barakat, originally of Ismaili, scored a memorable hat trick against his old team.

It was clear from the beginning that Mohsen Ortugal, Ismaili's Turkish-German head coach who took over responsibility of the team at the beginning of this year, was keen for personal glory -- defeating the unbeaten winners of the league would earn him a place in the history books. But his wish for glory could cost him his post at the end of the day.

On the other side, the Red Devils came to Ismailia with the aim of garnering a point to extend their unbeaten 24-match run in the national league, and surpass 70 points, a feat unrivalled in Egyptian league history.

The first 15 minutes were totally controlled by the home side. But in fact it was a cue for the visitors to begin the big show. Barakat, who moved to the Cairo-based club after spending two years in Gulf teams, hit the opener in the 17th minute after being cleared by Islam El-Shater, another former Ismaili midfielder who joined the Red Devils after playing for Zamalek and Ittihad Jeddah. Mindful of the fans of his former club that shot him to stardom, Barakat refused to make a show of his first goal. Nor did he celebrate following his second and third goals in the 35th and 48th minutes -- an attitude that was warmly received and appreciated by the yellow fans who applauded for him during and after the game.

Barakat's name will go down in the chronicles of his new club since his first goal was No 2,000 for Ahli since the league's inception in 1948.

Ismaili's youth player Sherif Abdel-Fadeel was sent off for an early shower in the 38th minute after a challenge on Hassan Mustafa but the Ahli juggernaut could not have been stopped that day. The fourth goal by Emad Miteb, the top goal scorer of the league with 15, was a trademark Ahli goal on the counter-attack. One was left to ponder why Ortugal had failed to change his tactics that brought Ahli's players face to face with the goalkeeper almost every time they moved forward.

Ortugal eventually replaced a midfielder with a defender but by then the score was 5-0. Mohamed Abu Treika stabbed the fifth in the 77th minute. And by then the Dervishes' faithful were on their way home, not believing that this was their team who hammered the Cairene club 4-0 a year ago.

Osama Hosni hit the sixth goal in the 85th minute to put the last nail in the yellow coffin.

Following the match, several players fainted in the changing room. Midfielder Ahmed El-Gamal was taken to hospital after he fell unconscious.

Perhaps the club was forgiven, the reason being extreme fatigue after a one-week trip to Nairobi where they were forced to stay several nights at the airport after being denied entry to Rwanda where they were supposed to play in the African Confederation Cup.

History seemed to have repeated itself. Ahli hammered Ismaili 6-0 in 1997 in Ismailia. That result led to Ismail Osman's appointment at the helm of the club; ironically, Friday's pounding is what toppled Osman's board. Osman appeared on the local TV station in the aftermath of the game to announce the board's resignation.

"We unanimously decided to submit our resignation to the governor of Ismailia to give a chance to a new leadership that can achieve the aspirations of Ismaili fans," Osman said. "The new leadership will have to fix the mistakes of the past to regain the supporters' confidence."

Ismailia Governor Sabri El-Adawi on Sunday accepted the resignation and is now looking for a new board. Rumours have it that either Raafat Abdel-Azeem or Abdel-Monem Emara will be appointed at the head of the board. The former presided over the club in 1990-1991, leading it to its second national league title. The latter being a fervent fan of the club, was the former governor of Ismailia.

The Red Devils, meanwhile, produced what was arguably their best season ever -- and the best of any club in Egypt's history. They added a new achievement to their already weighty list, having garnered 71 points from 25 matches, and still have one game in hand. In 1996 they collected 70 points out of 26 matches, a record at the time.

Until the Weekly went to press, the status of Ortugal had not been decided. What is sure is that Ismaili dropped to third place in the league table behind Enppi.

They still have two more non-league fixtures at the end of this month, in the last-eight phase of the Arab Champions League and the African Confederation Cup. But unless Ismaili can regroup quickly in the next few weeks, their dreams of winning a title this season will not come true.