A thorn in Tunisian sides
A second Tunisian club has been flattened by Zamalek. Mohamed El-Sayed writes on the latest mismatch
In Cairo, Zamalek of Egypt whitewashed Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to take the lead in their respective group in the Arab Champions League.
With the win, Zamalek topped their Group A with six points, while Esperance now lag three points behind after their narrow 2-1 win over Ittihad Beleida of Algeria in the first round.
In another encounter, Beleida drew 2-2 with SC Sfaxien of Tunisia. Both sides are tied for third place in the group with just one point each.
The Tunisians came to Egypt fielding a second-string squad as the first team were busy readying themselves for the African Champions League second leg encounter against Ismaili of Egypt.
Esperance's diluted strength allowed Zamalek to take the offensive. They dominated the first half, thanks to the high- quality performance of the team's captain Hazem Imam, who was subjected to hard hitting tackles throughout the game. How the Bahraini referee Abdel-Qader Abdel-Khaleq managed to relinquish responsibility and show no card of any colour to the visiting side is hard to understand.
The rare Tunisian attacks in the first half, led by their only striker John Mark, failed to even bother goalkeeper Abdel- Wahed El-Sayed.
The Egyptians frittered away several chances via Abdel- Halim Ali and Gamal Hamza before Wa'el El-Qabbani, who was reported to have secretly signed for Ahli next season, fired Zamalek ahead in the 35th minute, stabbing a powerful curling free kick from 30 yards. The goal was a mere prelude to a night of embarrassment for Esperance as a rampant Zamalek cut through them at will with swift and slick passing.
Two shoving matches broke out before the end of the first half, one because of Imam being repeatedly roughed up; the other because of the wasting of time through claiming injury by the Tunisian goalkeeper.
In an attempt to pull themselves back into the game, Esperance piled on the pressure after the interval. However, all their attempts went begging thanks to the inaccessible defence of the home side.
Making up for two golden opportunities he wasted in the first minutes, Hamza scored Zamalek's second in the 58th minute after a follow-up on Imam's shot.
It took the whites only 10 minutes to add their third and final goal. Imam released Ali with a lovely cross from the right flank who guided the ball home.
Having beaten SC Sfaxien of Tunisia 3-1 in Sfax in the opening match in the group two weeks ago, Zamalek are quickly proving a big headache for Tunisian clubs.
In Group B, Ismaili of Egypt continued their winning ways after manhandling countrymen Ahli 4-0 in Ismailia.
In the wake of the stunning loss, Ahli's Portuguese head coach Tony Oliviera was sacked after only seven league matches and replaced by former Ahli defender Fathi Mabrouk. Mabrouk had been coaching Ahli's youth team and led the seniors to the Egyptian Cup in August.
Before the encounter, the four squads in the group were on an equal footing with each team having gained one point from their first match, though Ahli were at a distinct disadvantage after being held to an embarrassing 1-1 draw at home against Nasr Hussein-Dey of Algeria.
The Dervishes hoped to capitalise on Ahli's recent poor form and indeed provided the 20,000 capacity crowd with full value and first-class football.
Under new German coach Theo Bucker, Ismaili have turned into a model of a modern attacking team, all pace, movement and incisiveness. Ahli have displayed the complete opposite characteristics -- sluggish and disorganised, hounded and humbled.
As was his habit from the beginning of his tenure, Oliviera started the match with an unexpected line-up. He played Sayed Abdel-Hafiz, a right winger, as a striker beside Ahmed Bilal. Bucker depended mainly on the right and left wings, rather than the strikers, in making and scoring goals.
With the defence of the visiting side in tatters, Ismaili launched a string of attacks through Islam El-Shater and Sayed Mo'awwad, the right and left wingers, during the first half-hour.
After that, the deluge. The first goal, a gem in itself, came in the 32nd minute when Mo'awwad passed to attacker Dramane Traore on the left edge of the area, and the latter, in his turn, released El-Shater on the right with a looping ball behind Ahli's defensive line. El-Shater collected the ball with his right foot, then sent a glorious left footer into the far top corner of Amir Abdel-Hamid's net.
Six minutes later, El-Shater was released with a long pass behind Ahli's defenders, who were caught napping, then sent a low cross that found its way to the unmarked Mo'awwad who had the simple task of steering home from six yards.
Pride being wounded enough, Oliviera quickly brought in striker Khaled Bibo for the still rusty Sayed Abdel-Hafiz. Ahli went close in the 50th minute with Ahmed Bilal's thumping shot that was punched away by alert goalkeeper Mohamed Sobhi. Two minutes later, Bibo could have pulled the Devils back into the game had not his powerful shot rebounded off the crossbar.
However, Bucker regained the upper hand, sending in Ahmed El-Gamal for the out of form Ahmed Fatahi. The change bore fruit in the 70th minute as Traore broke into the area and found himself face to face with the goalkeeper. There was never any doubt about the end result. By then the Red Devils faithful were on their way home.
After the third goal Ahli were a lost cause. There was hopelessness and the absence of skill and spirit.
As the visiting side's morale was at rock bottom, the thrashing continued. In the 81st minute Mo'awwad produced a corner kick which was headed back into the area by Traore to find the unmarked advancing stopper Mohamed Younis who headed the ball into the net for Ismaili's fourth goal and his first ever in his four-year career with the Dervishes.
Following the encounter, Oliviera declined to speak to the press. However, Ikrami, goalkeeping coach, did. "It is a logical result of the poor quality of this generation of players." Ikrami called on the club to "search for talented, ambitious players to replace those who lack the spirit of the red shirt".
Bucker said the game was relatively easy and his team could have doubled the score had they translated the several chances that came their way. He added that it was his easiest game since he arrived in Ismaili at the start of this season.
As for the dismal performances of Ahli, Bucker said, "In the past three months, Ahli have become a team other than we know. There is something clearly wrong. Their players move around aimlessly unable to understand their tactical roles."
In the same group, Nasr Hussein-Dey of Algeria managed a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Etoile of Tunisia in the dying seconds. Gamal Kabri fired the Algerians ahead in the 93rd minute, putting his team in second place behind Ismaili thanks to a three-goal average for the Egyptians. Etoile tied for third place ahead of Ahli with a point for each.
As it now stands, the Arab Champions League comprises 16 clubs, eight from Africa, eight from Asia. The Asian teams which qualified for Group A are Wahadat of Jordan, Zawra' of Iraq, and Hilal and Ahli of Saudi Arabia. Faisali of Jordan, Kuwait of Kuwait, Ittihad Jeddah of Saudi Arabia and Talba of Iraq are in Group B.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 20 - 26 November 2003 (Issue No. 665)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/665/sp1.htm