CAN 2010: Review

The curtains have fallen on the latest installment of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. It was a tournament where sadly the attack on the Togo national team that left 2 dead has overshadowed the football. Frankly the caliber of football on display throughout CAN 2010 left a lot to be desired. However one team did fit the bill, Egypt. The Pharaohs constantly entertained throughout their successful title defending campaign. Egypt managed to finish off with a host of records and achievements.

a) It was a 3rd successive win for Egypt, a feat that was never achieved in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations.

b) This was a 7th Cup win for the Pharaohs, three clear of their nearest rivals Cameroon and Ghana

c) Egypt have stretch their undefeated record in the competition to 19 games spanning from 2004 ( a 0-0 draw with Cameroon in Tunisia) till the 1-0 defeat of Ghana in Angola 2010

d) Egypt have the joint record (with Ghana) of participating in the Final game of the competition. Both Nations have played 8 finals.

e) Egypt hold the record for most Africa Cup of Nations appearances.

f) Egypt have scored more goals in the CAN than any other nations

g) Egypt have scored the most goals in Angola 2010, 15 goals. Tying their previous record in Ghana 2008

Individually Egypt had a lot to show for as well:

a) Best Player of the Tournament was awarded to Egypt Captain Ahmed Hassan

b) Goal Keeper of the Tournament was awarded to Egypt Shot Stopper Essam Al Hadary

c) Top Scorer of Angola 2010 was Mohamed Naggy "Geddo" with 5 goals to his name.

d) Hassan Shehata became the first ever coach to win 3 successive Cup of Nations.

e) Geddo became the first ever tournament top scorer to win the award off the bench, failing to start a single game in the competition.

f) Ahmed Hassan became the most capped player in Egypt's history surpassing the legendary Hossam Hassan with 172 Caps.

g) Ahmed Hassan became the most capped player in the history of the African Continent with 172 Caps.

The previous list of achievements are facts. To keep things a bit more interesting I decided to make my own awards depending solely on my opinion

Best Goal:

Winner:Abdel Kader Kieta, Cote D'Ivoire vs Algeria.

Coming across the pitch from the right hand side dribbling past players he unleashed a screamer in the top corner worthy of winning any match, it didn't though.

Runner Up:Mohamed Zidan, Egypt vs Algeria.

The striker dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and proceeded to twist and turn Algeria's Belhadj several times showing incredible skill and ball control and then unleashed a left footed strike into the top corner, magical.

Best Team: Egypt, Isn't it obvious?

Black Horse: Zambia, The Copper Bullets looked dead and buried after an agonizing defeat to Cameroon. They came back to beat Gabon and top their group only to lose to Nigeria on penalties in the Quarter Final. Well done.

Best Surprise: Ghana, Missing star players like Muntari, Appiah, Panstil, Mensah and with Essien just recovering from injury their coach was forced to field a lot of youngsters, it did not look good for the black stars. A destructive defeat in their first game against Cote D'Ivoire added to their woes and no on gave them a chance. They reached the final and lost a very close game to Egypt.

Surprise Result: Malawi 3 Algeria 0, No one in world football expected this result. Malawi were virtual new comers on the African scene and Algeria were world cup qualifiers. Malawi dominated and was aided with some goal keeping howlers and deserved their win. Sadly they could not capitalize on the win and crashed out from the first round. Algeria picked themselves up and reached the Semi Final.

Most Thrilling Match: Angola 4 Mali 4, The hosts came on strong with goals from Flavio, Gilberto and Manucho and took a commanding 4-0 lead with 15minutes to go. The Angolans were celebrating until Mali constructed one of the most miraculous of footballing comebacks scoring 4 goals in succession. The last two of which came in injury time. No one could believe their eyes!

Most Enjoyable Match: Egypt 4 Algeria 0, This game was very enjoyable to me. The African Champions proceeded to dismantle the Algerian team with calm, cool and lethal display of football. Revenge was sweet.

Best Player: Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), The Egyptian skipper lead his team to a third successive Cup win and a personal fourth. His energetic and experienced displays were a joy to behold. He was critical to Egypt's campaign in both attack and defense. You would never guess that he was turning 35 years old.

Break Out Star: Mohamed Geddo (Egypt), The striker was a virtual unknown quantity to Egyptians and Africans alike. Shehata gambled on him by including him ahead of the likes of Mido and Zaki and he repaid him in spades. Having a soft touch and a clinical eye for goal, Geddo proceeded to score some breath taking goals, coming off the bench in every single game. His master piece was a peach in the final to win Egypt the tournament. He finished off as top scorer and this will always be remembered as the tournament of Geddo.

Best Keeper:

Winner: Essam Al Hadary (Egypt)

Runner Up: Richard Kingson (Ghana)

In a competition which was shaped by goal keeping mistakes these two keepers are the only ones in the tournament that looked at ease between the posts. Both of them were not fantastic but their consistent displays helped their teams to the Final.

Best Coach:

Winner: Hassan Shehata (Egypt),The veteran achieved the unthinkable with the Pharaohs, winning a third successive Cup of Nations. He was criticized severely after failing to reach the World Cup but has gone along way in redeeming himself. Thought to be the greatest ever African and Egyptian Coach.

Runner Up: Milovan Rajevac (Ghana), With a depleted side and forced to start many youngsters from the world champion under 20 side he managed to forge a formidable team. The players were very disciplined and extremely fit and physical. The injured veterans will have a hard time breaking into the squad. Watch out for Ghana in the World Cup.

Honorable Mention: Arnaud Sika (Benin), He is an excellent player and was Benin's best performer. He is also possibly the smallest ever professional footballer at 155cm (5ft 1in).

Worst Player: Rigobert Song (Cameroon), He had previously not missed a single minute in the Cup Of Nations for his country. An appalling display against Zambia, where he was responsible for the 2 goals Cameroon conceded forced his coach to bench him for the rest of the tournament. He looked lazy and unfit. He was a great player and should respect his history and retire after the world cup.

Worst Coach: Fawzy El Benzarty (Tunisia), Having inherited a demoralized team after failing to qualify to the world cup, El Benzarty can be excused for not reaching the next round. However in my opinion the failure to qualify was his fault. He seemed clueless and unaware of what is going on in both the match and the post match interviews. Tunisia deserve better.

Egypt vs Algeria: Destruction

Great teams rise for glory after getting knocked down. I can say it whole hearted that we are indeed a great team. Egypt yesterday reached their third successive CAN final after thrashing Algeria by 4 goals to nil. The victory itself was great but it was made even sweater by the way Egypt played and the manner by which Algeria behaved.

It was a virtuoso performance from the Egyptian team and it was obvious the team as a unit were very calm and collected from the start. A quality that is crucial to winning such games. Tactically we were spot on too. The Algerians were frankly a disgrace to football and sportsmanship. Belhadj and Chaouchi come to mind. The keeper should have been red carded twice. He attempted to head-but the referee after he allowed a penalty. The Algerians wanted it to be retaken for some reason? He later got his marching orders after lashing at Egypt striker Geddo. Belhadj apparently was furious after Zidan had danced around him for the second goal in addition to Mohammady being a bit showy. He attempted a nightmare double tackle on the latter and was rightly red carded for his efforts. Frankly this team was very disappointing to me. When they beat Egypt they were all over the place with comments of how they were better. Bougherra even added that Egypt should "Shut up". I think we shut him up real good. In defeat they turned into thugs. What a shame that they get to go to the World cup and not Egypt.

Egypt lined up as they did against Cameroon with the only difference being that in this game Algeria were sitting back hoping to hit Egypt on the break with long balls behind the defense. For once Shehata and Shawky Ghareeb got their tactics right. Egypt were patient in their approach always playing the ball to feet and using Mohammady on the right flank to produce great width to devastating effect. He was ever so dangerous and had the better of Belhadj for pace and skill. He also forced him to defend deeper and limited his forward runs. In the rare occasions that he did attack Egypt had Mohammday, Ahmed Hassan and usually Fathalla to close him down and stop his runs. It was obvious the manager had done his homework as Algeria's danger came from two sources Belhadj which was neutralized and Karim Ziani. Karim was ever present in the Algerian win against Cote D'Ivoire, he wanted the ball all the time and provided an outlet for his teammates then proceeded to distribute play brilliantly. Not this time. Egypt pressurized Algeria high up the pitch by two or three players. Ziani especially was always closed down all over the pitch. It was not haphazard, we pressured them at key points and always kept their defenders on their toes. Ahmed Fathi was particularly impressive doing that and in plugging the hole between the midfield and the defense. Egypt contained Algeria even before the red cad and their only hope of scoring came from set pieces and corners. Hadary had just one save to make for the hole game which shows you how solid and aware defensively Egypt was. Hadary surprisingly was very solid in the air too.

Going forward we looked ever so dangerous. We passed the ball well until openings appeared and we would always be able to find an outlet. This was due to a number of great players. Mohammady to me was exceptional not because of his runs but because of his ability to always find space for himself. His excellent wing play was wonderful and he always provided an outlet for his teammates even when Algeria knew it was coming.

In Meteb and Zidan Egypt have one of the most beautiful attacking partnerships in African football. The forward runs of Meteb are brilliant in my opinion. He does not just run, he runs with purpose and in space between defenders. He also has the ability to arch his runs to create the needed space between defenders. This gives his fellow midfielders, especially players like Ahmed Hassan and Ghali. the option to attempt the direct through ball from deep. He is also tireless, will chase every ball, hold it up and pressurize defenders. Yesterday he showed great ability when he latched onto the mistake of the Algerian defense and controlled the bouncing ball with his head then his feet to ultimately force the penalty and the red card. He did this again in the second half and that run should have been another penalty in my opinion and ended his participation in the game. This would be a huge blow for Egypt in the final. Don't believe me, just look at how poor we looked after Meteb was replaced and it took us around 15minutes to get back to the game (against 10 man Algeria) because a very important outlet in Meteb was gone.

Zidan compliments Meteb. His dribbling ability and the way he drops in the pocket between Meteb and the midfield makes all the difference. Give him the ball to feet and facing goal-wards and you are in for a treat. His dribbling ability can be rivaled only by the likes of Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. He can score and create goals. He was unlucky in the first couple of games but his goal against Algeria was jaw dropping. Dribbling around Belhadj he finished the move off with a brilliant strike with his weaker left foot. I think the problem was he was pressured by the knowledge that he will always be substituted by Geddo no matter what. We all know how Shehata is superstitious. Meteb's injury sparked him to life and he knew he wouldn't be going off this time around.

Ahmed Hassan made up for his tense performance in Sudan by putting on a professional performance. He might not have been in the thick of the action but he was always ever present for his teammates asking for the ball and distributing it accurately he also did a great job on controlling Belhadj. There is also the phenomena of the tournament. Mohamed Nagy GEDDO whose sublime finishing could make him possibly the first tournament top scorer off the bench.

Overall Egypt were perfect. We have proved that we are indeed the best team in Africa. It remains to be seen how Egypt will adapt with out Meteb against a very fast Ghana side. However, win or lose this Egyptian team will forever be remembered as one of the best teams ever to play in the great continent. They have forever earned my respect and so has their coach. Say what you like about Shehata but at the end of the day he must be doing something right. Hats off to him and his brilliant team, they will always be the Champions of Africa in my book!

Clash of the Titans

It's here again. Yes another bloody match against Algeria. I think I'm probably one of the few people who did not take it personally when Algeria beat us to go to the World Cup. Don't get me wrong I was fuming that we lost but frankly throughout the qualification they were better as a team. I still think our players are better, regardless of the fact that most of them play locally.

History aside tonight is a very important game for Egypt and Algeria alike. Obviously it's importance is primarily because it's the Africa Cup Of Nations Semi-Final. The biggest competition in the continent. Algeria need to prove that they deserve to be in the World Cup and that their qualification was due to their strength and not due to Egypt gifting them a place in South Africa. A victory tonight will prove once and for all that they are indeed better than the Pharaohs and that the excuses made up by Shehata and co after the defeat in Sudan are what they really are, crap. Algeria will be in their first final (and semi-final) in 20 years, ever since their last win and only win of the cup on home soil in 1990. It will be their third final ever, the other being in 1980. So don't believe what you hear from their players and their coach that they are not under any pressure. They are and under a lot of it. They have a chance to make history and rival their greatest generation of the 80's.

On the other side there is Egypt. A wounded giant. After failing to qualify for the World Cup and the national disappointment that came with it no one, not even their coach himself gave them a chance of retaining their African crown a record third successive time. With players like Trieka, Barakat, Mido and Zaki not in the squad it seemed hopeless. (Shehata started to act confident only after his win against Nigeria defending his team selections and claiming that picking the team had to do with how religious a player was, strangely he forgot that football is about talent and talented players win games, not prayers.) However after the cracking opener against Nigeria and coming from a goal down to destroy the Super Eagles an aura of optimism started to appear. The Egyptians looked like champions and finished their group with a 100% record dispatching both Benin and Mozambique with professionalism worthy of Champions. Then came the real test against the Lions of Cameroon. Egypt capitalized on their opponents mistakes and put them to the sword again coming from a goal down. I've been very critical of our performances but overall we got the job done. Lead by the ever vibrant Ahmed Hassan, who is truly a joy to watch, Egypt are a strong unit. Credit to Shehata for bringing his team together and to his players for showing outstanding determination. Yes Shehata is lucky but if he can pull it off against Algeria (even if he looses the final) it would be a great feat and would earn him respect from everyone, friends and foes, myself included.

Egypt should take this as just another game, a stepping stone to a record third successive title. A chance to redeem their failure to qualify to South Africa. The cherry on top is that they get to do it against the team that knocked them out, Algeria. It is good to feel some purpose in a game but it should not be about revenge and hate. It should be about winning. Increased emotions will tire players easier and make them much more susceptible to lapses in concentration. Egypt should play their own game, keep the ball on the ground and not look to rush things and for gods sake no long balls.

Good teams take their chances, good teams ride their luck and good teams come back after going behind, but only great teams rise up for glory after getting knocked down.

CAN 2010: Crunch Time

The quarter finals of the CAN 2010 are done and dusted to devastating effect. We were treated to some of the tournaments best games. Frankly though the level of football this year round has not been up to par in my opinion.

Angola 0 Ghana 1

Angola surprisingly were favorites in this game. They had won their group and put on some interesting displays lead by the formidable Flavio. On the other hand Ghana were a depleted young team that were lacking many of their well known star players, Essien, Muntari, Appiah, Panstil and Mensah to name a few. Ghana scored early and proceeded to defend for most of the game. Their Goal Keeper Kingston saved their blushes a number of time as he was aided by an extremely wasteful Angolan front line. Manucho especially. It finished 1-0 as the hosts crashed out, at the end however it was a result you would expect given the the history of both nations.

Cote D'Ivoire 2 Algeria 3 (a.e.t)

A battling performance from the desert warriors saw them edge tournament favorites Cote D'Ivoire. The kings of under achievement did it again and they had only themselves to blame and their coach. They dominated the first 15minutes of the game scoring a goal and could have gone 4-0 up if not for their lack of concentration. They let Algeria back in the game slowly and were punished before half time with an excellent taken goal by Matmour. The Algerians fought hard for every ball and for each other and they managed an equalizer at the death of the game after Kieta had put the elephants in front in the 89th minute with a cracker of a goal. With all the talent and experience on show you would expect Ivorians to be bale to defend a goal for 4 minutes but no. Bougherra was virtually unmarked in the penalty area as he headed in a cross that frankly average keeper Barry could have done better with. Algeria sealed their famous win in extra-time after some of the worst defending I have ever seen. A Belhadj cross into the box had 4 Algerian attackers against 2 Ivorian defenders. It was a deserved win for Ziani and Co. after a disciplined performance.

Egypt 3 Cameroon 1 (a.e.t)

Cameroon controlled most of this game and will be wondering how on earth they lost it. Good defensive performance from Egypt forced the Lions to take shots from outside the box as they could not break inside the penalty area. 20 Corners for Cameroon in the game showed their dominance and they took the lead on 25minutes when Ahmed Hassan playing his 170th Cap for Egypt scored an own goal from a Emana corner. Hassan is now the most capped player in the African continent. Hassan redeemed himself by scoring a cracker from 35yards that Kameni could have done better with. Egypt looked threatening on the break but Cameroon controlled the game and looked all the more likely to score. In extra time, a short back pass from Geremi let in Geddo through on goal to score with a well taken finish his third goal of the tournament and Egypt's second. Cameroon then had a right to be very aggrieved after a Hassan free kick was adjudged to have crossed the line although replays showed it wasn't even close. This sealed the win for Egypt by utilizing the mistakes of the opposition and by riding the luck of Shehata. Egypt face Algeria tomorrow in a mouth watering encounter and need to be much better than against Cameroon to beat a very confident Algerian side who already beat Egypt to reach the World Cup in South Africa 2010. I just hope for gods sake that the Egyptian players look at this as just a game and not a grudge match. The will to win is very important but too much of it can back fire. Shehata needs to keep his players calm and focused. Only by keeping a cool head and playing our slick passing game can we beat the Algerians.

Zambia 0 Nigeria 0 (4-5 on pen)

Road To South Africa 2010: Egypt vs Algeria, The Aftermath

Prior to the game 38% of voters on the Poll thought we would directly qualify and another 38% thought we would force a play-off game. 24% thought that Algeria would go through, they were wrong. Egypt has indeed forced a final play-off game versus Algeria for one last time. I had earlier predicted in my article Road To South Africa that Algeria were favorites to qualify, I stand by that but I'm ecstatic Egypt were able to force one final game. I also mentioned that for Egypt to qualify they had to do it in Cairo, but after yesterdays extraordinary circumstances I'm inclined to take a different perspective.

The game was a very tense affair for players and spectators a like. However, after the dream start we had with a Zaki goal in the 2nd minute I thought we would put Algeria to the sword, I was wrong. I'm not sure what happened after this goal as it seemed to me that as a team Egypt took it's foot off the paddle a couple of minutes later, maybe because they realized they had to score just 1 more goal in the remaining 90minutes or possibly a bit of relief set in. Regardless this helped Algeria regain it's composure and like true professionals they started to get more and more into the game. Their midfield lead by Zaini dominated the game and it seemed Egypt could only regain possession by fouling the opposition. Egypt were restricted to long balls and direct play for the rest of the first half.

Algeria could have equalized at the final breath of the first half if not for Hadary. The veteran again proved that he is with out a doubt one of the most composed and talented keepers in the current game. He was arguably Egypt's best player and time and again delivered to keep us in the game with a number of fantastic saves. Abdel Zaher El Sakka was another excellent performer and his return to the squad is most certainly welcome one. He was calm and collected throughout the game and this proved invaluable as his counterpart Hani Said was a nervous wreck at some parts. Nerves seemed to have taken the better of the Egyptian team as they were unable to put on any serious number of passes to open up the opposition and again in the second half it seemed Algeria were dominating the midfield even more and were truly scary on the break. At a point it seemed that Algeria were much better footballers, freely dribbling past one or two players from Egypt. I knew otherwise and I could only attribute this to that Egypt were tense and wanted the ball in the other side of the field ASAP.

Our starting eleven, I thought were the best for this game and for once me and Shehata agreed on something. Tactically we left a lot to be desired and there is nothing that rubs me the wrong way more than a coach that has no impact on the game in the 2nd half. Captain Hassan did nothing to try and regain the midfield, he even weakened it by taking off Homos and adding Brakat. Ok Homos was not particularly impressive, but who was? Trieka was a ghost, he was not looking for the ball as much as he usually does and nothing was working for him. I'm thinking the ball he hit the post with that eventually lead to the goal hampered his confidence. Chance creation was left to Zidan. The striker dropped into our own half to get the ball (Trieka's job) leading to a lack of attacking presence inside and around the box. Zidan should have been getting the ball closer to the box by Trieka. The few times he got it there he was ever so dangerous. Barakat was lost for the first 15minutes he came on, and neither he nor Shehata new where he was supposed to play. Egypt changed formation a number of times throughout, credit to Shehata trying to unsettle the opposition, but at points it seemed too random and haphazard.

Tactical complaints aside, it was always going to be difficult for Egypt with Algeria employing 11 players behind the ball and in fairness we were not as bad as I initially thought during the game. Every time we manged to break down their tough midfield we looked extremely dangerous and in my opinion their defense is not as strong as they set themselves to be. They only look strong because of their midfielders protecting them. The game would have been a lot easier if Mohamady showed more ability to cross the ball when getting into really good positions and/or if we were better placed to take long shots off his cleared crosses. To Mr. Shehata's credit the fighting spirit on the pitch was very evident. Egypt's players fought for each other and for their coach. Not once did you see a player waving or arguing with his fellow teammates, when frankly some deserved it. Egypt were a disciplined team.

Algeria dropped deeper towards the end of the game and Egypt looked more and more dangerous, however as injury time drew closer I had almost lost hope. Egypt are known for a lot of things, injury time winners was not one of them. If this were an Ahly game I would have had faith till the last breath. Ahly does this sort of thing regularly, you need to look no further than last season's last game. It is something inherit in Ahly's footballing culture, it is not in Egypt's. So you can guess my shock and awe when Emad Meteb (Moteb or Meteab) rose to head the ball clinically into the back of the net at almost the final kick of the game. I was ecstatic, all of Egypt was. I was even happier the goal scorer was Meteb.

The Predator, as my father and I like to call him, has been recovering from a six month lay-off and was subject to huge ridicule at the last CAN 2008 in Ghana. Meteb in my opinion is the best striker in Egypt's current generation. Ever since the first time I saw him in the U-20 African Nations Cup under Shehata were he finished top scorer he seemed special. He is miles ahead of our other strikers, with all due respect to Zaki, Zidan and Mido (the thin one). He might not have the dribbling skills of Zidan, the brute force of Zaki or the presence of Mido but he is much more. He has all these abilities combined. The boy can shoot with both legs and is lethal in front of goal. He works tirelessly for his team and is never selfish. He can take on defenders or hold them off. He can take direct free-kicks and head the ball too. People tend to forget that he was pivotal to our CAN 2006 win in Egypt with 3 goals. In 2008 his work rate and positioning opened up chances for the likes of Trieka, Zidan and Zaki. When Manuel Jose's Ahly were dominating local and African football he was the pivot in front of Barakat and Trieka. He would have never scored a more important goal in his career than that against Algeria and I'm glad he will get his over due credit.

Algeria will be distraught, they were 30 seconds away from the World Cup in South Africa. They have suffered yet another set back. 2 month ago it seemed unlikely Egypt could fathom 2 back to back away wins and even if we had done that Algeria were surely going to thrash Rwanda and make it impossible for Egypt to beat the goal difference, but here we are. Egypt has proved a worthy contender and in any other year 4 wins and a draw would have sent us to the World Cup with flying colors and if the head to head rule was applied we would not be playing a decider. Egypt has now got the momentum and hopefully top players like Trieka and Ahmed Hassan will rise to the occasion now that some of the pressure has been lifted. If Algeria can lift themselves after the heart break to put on a performance against Egypt next Wednesday it will be very interesting. Otherwise Shehata's men will be there to finish off the job they started in Cairo.

Zambia 0 Hadary 1

Egypt took on Zambia last Saturday looking for an away win as the only option to maintain their hopes of qualification to next year's world cup in South Africa. I was expecting to see an Egyptian side full of purpose and energy. A side setup to score goals since score average was going to be a criteria. A coach who knew what he was doing. Off course Hassan Shehata never disappoints and Egypt put on one of the worst footballing displays in our history. I think this might have been worse than the Egypt/Ireland game in Italy 90'. At least then Gohary new what he wanted from the game, one point, and managed to do just that by parking the bus in front of our penalty area for 90 minutes. One can argue that Shehata did the same, Egypt did get 3 points thanks to a screamer from Hosny Abd Rabo (his form may have dropped but boy can he shoot a ball). We did get a 0-1 win at the end but we gave a new meaning to the term winning ugly. It's always a plus win you play poorly and win, it is said to be the mark of champions. Ahly does so on a regular bases and so does great teams like Man United.

The troubling point here is that Egypt managed just 2 shots (1 on target) for 90minutes. We failed to create a single goal scoring opportunity. Our defense was being ripped to shreds, especially behind our two wing backs Moawad and Fathi(Barakat). I'd accept that normally as when your are pushing forward spaces are bound to open up at the back, funny thing is that we weren't pushing forward! We couldn't connect 2 passes together so why were our wing backs out of positions on a regular bases? no bloody idea, ask captain Hassan as it seems he had no idea how Zambia were playing or how to adjust his team accordingly. Say what you say about El Hadary but he is the only reason we are still in World Cup contention. I stand by my words in previous articles that we need to prepare a replacement, but he has proved that he is a man for the big occasions and manages to lift his game accordingly. He did it in the CAN 2006 final and 2008 semis versus Cote D'Ivoire and lately versus Italy in the Confederations Cup. I only hope he can do it again versus Algeria. Hadary managed five world class saves in the first half to keep Egypt in the game. I'm not sure why the rest of the team couldn't lift their game but it seems clearly that most of them were over trained. The long preparation period seemed to have drained them and when you can't pass the ball extra physical effort can help, it didn't cause we did not have it either. I hope to god we don't postpone the league and have a very long preparation period prior to the game against Algeria.

We needed to win this game and you win games by creating chances. Egypt has arguably one of the best play makers in the continent in Mohamed Abu Trieka, so it would seem as a no brainier to use him, we didn't. Shehata proceeded to throw him upfront as a second striker and he rarely touched the ball for 90minutes as Ahmed Hassan and Abd Rabo couldn't fill in that role. Even Barakat was thrown as a wing back and it took our coach 30 minutes to realise that he doesn't have the legs to play there anymore, not in these conditions anyway. Trieka as a support striker might have worked if he has soemone to suplly him the ball and dictate play. Egypt has Hommos, the best passer of the ball in Egyptian football., however he was a sub and never saw any action.

We were slightly better in the second half after the addition of a second striker, but it was a low benchmark and we upped our game from crap to poor. We created half a chance and Hosny delivered. Zambia were distraught, they couldn't believe they conceded a goal as it seemed inevitable that they would score. Push on I thought, the Zambians have lost hope, Egypt's players have come to life, now is the time to put in a second and increase the pressure on Algeria. Never, not under Shehata's reign. Like we did against Rwanda we proceeded to waste time instead of delivering the killer blow to a dazed opponent. At the final whistle scenes of crazy celebrations were on hand. I had no idea why, It seemed I wasn't alone and ART analyst Khaled Bayoumi was baffled too. He was truly upset, as was I and as should any Egyptian who dreams of seeing his beloved Egypt in a World Cup . We had put ourselves in a bit of a jam with just a 1 nil victory, why the celebrations? Luck was on our side, why the rolling on the grass? We needed a favor from Rwanda, why the group hugs? A simple pat on the back would have sufficed followed by an apology by Shehata for an appalling performance and a thank you to Hadary and the right foot of Abd Rabo.

Rwanda did cut us some slack by maintaining a respectable score versus Algeria yesterday and losing just 3-1. After the game me and a friend pondered how simple it would have been to qualify. Just one or two more goals and a simple 1-0 defeat to of Algeria in Cairo would be enough. Apparently Shehata and the players didn't realize that and as Mr. Bayoumi implied it seems captain Hassan was only looking to keep his job by using the excuse that he didn't qualify to a world cup on goal difference, boohoo! Sadly for him we need to win by 2 clear goals to force a play-off game or a toss. Not the daunting task Shehata would have loved had Algeria thrashed Rwanda, no excuses. Sadly for us it would have been much simpler, had Shehata looked to the real goal and instructed his players to score goals and not celebrate poor 1-0 wins against mediocre opposition. My faith lies with the players and not their coach, like they did versus Brazil and in two CAN's they can rise to the occasion once more and take us to South Africa. They are after all the greatest footballing generation Egypt has ever seen and I'm afraid if they fail we will have to wait another 20years to come close.

Another major concern for me was the post match (excuses) conference:

1- The weather was hot

This really made me laugh as it seems Egypt is located in the North of Europe were temperatures are below zero for most of the year. Egypt is in Africa damn it. We are surrounded by desert and temperatures rise to mid 40's in the summer, so I don't think playing in the heat would be much of a shock to most players, hell most Egyptians.

2- The pitch was poor

Oh my god, have you ever seen a pitch in the Egyptian League? are you people from Egypt or maybe imposter's? 'Agroud' stadium anyone? The pitch was better than 75% of African fields.

3- We were upset the U-20 team lost in the World Cup which added extra pressure on us, was the final excuse.

I was extremely annoyed by this one. Shehata and Trieka both said it and it seemed like a PR stunt to suggest that they are the ones who please the fans. Regardless, what does the the U-20 team have to do with it? They lost in the World Cup second round after topping their group and scoring 9 goals. Shehata lost to Japan, drew with Jamiaca and beat England to finish 3rd in his group and get knocked out by Argentina in the same competition with a far superior team most of whom play in the current Egypt first team. I suggest Trieka and Shehata get to the World Cup first before talking about other teams. I pray to god we don't lose a game of ping pong or maybe not qualify for Cannes film festival before the Algeria match cause Shehata might break down before the game, then again why is that a bad thing?

Regardless of anything Egypt will be backing Shehata and his team against Algeria in November. Me I'll be counting on exceptional talents of Trieka and Zidan, the ever tireless Ahmed Hassan and Hadary. My money is on Egypt.

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/56/42/69/fifa_wc_south_africa_2010_regulations_en_14123.pdf

Page 21 has qualification rules

When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going

Yesterday saw Egypt take on Rwanda in a must win game for Egypt if they would have any chance of qualifying for next years' World Cup. As the pole here suggested no one really knew what to expect from this game. Egypt are well renowned for buckling away from home and they were up against a team that hasn't lost a game at home for two years, until yesterday that is.

It is common knowledge to people who know me that I'm not a fan of Hassan Shehata, I am a fan of Egypt however and there is a huge distinction. I may not agree with his tactical choices and selection but by god if he takes us to the World Cup I'll be waving a flag and calling his name. Yesterday we got some hope back by beating Rwanda 1-0 and we are joint top of our qualification group with Algeria pending their game tonight versus Zambia, pressure is on them now. The game was a confusing and boring affair with neither team really threatening but what one could tell Egypt wanted it more. The contest was settled by Egyptian Captain Ahmed Hassan midway through the second half after a goal mouth scramble. The Eagle was the best player on the field although he seemed to run out of gas completely in the second half, that tells you much about his team mates. Egypt were missing alot of key players, alot of offensive options to be exact. Zaki, Meteb and AbuTrieka were all missing due to injury. Mido was unfit and Zidan had personal issues with Shehata. As a result Egypt had to field the 5th, 6th and 7th choice strikers. Honestly they are not up to par but hats off to them for giving it a go in the game, especially Dodi El Gabbas who put in a real fighting effort.

The Egyptian team overall was very poor except for the back three of Hany Said, Gomaa and Ocka. However they were never really tested. Hadary was average and made two decent saves although he messed up a back pass and looked very weak in handling crosses. It would do us good to start grooming a replacement. The midfield was a joke. Shawky was in a different planet and the lack of first team football must be affecting him while Abd Rabo was a ghost of his former self and frankly should not start for Egypt anymore. Him playing in a very weak league (Emirates League) has definitely contributed to his poor form. It would do us better to play Fathi in midfield as the poor lad can't cross a ball to save his life and playing him in the right wing back position makes him and us look foolish. Mohamady could be played there instead although he is known for his defensive frailties. There would be no better time to call up Hossam Ashour to fill this void in midfield. The boy puts his head down and plays football and has been doing that consistently for the past 4 or so years. Ghaly is another option although I'm not sure about him. The only breath of fresh air for Egypt was Barakat. He has proved once again that he is a player for the big occasions and having him in the squad as a starter or a sub will always add an exciting dimension to the team going forward. Negatives aside, it was a good win away from home, a win which we needed and that we got even though we were missing alot of key players. For once we showed that we are tough enough to play poorly and get the three points. Hopefully this can be a foundation to build on the remaining two games although winning them might still not be enough due to goal difference. Why were we wasting time against a hopeless Rwanda towards the end? Didn't the coach and players know that one more goal might have been just what the doctor ordered? I hope we don't live to regret this.

The best thing in the game was the referee, albeit a few mistakes here and there, but the worse was definitely ART commentator Essam Abdo (apologies if that's not his name). This guy talked nonsense through out the game it was frankly distracting. At one point he suggested that 17,000 people from the London and the whole of England proceeded to Birmingham to watch the game? Really? is this guy for real? The only place in the UK were you can watch this bloody game is Birmingham of all places! He seems to forget that one underground station from Oxford street he can go about and watch possibly El Gouna take on Mansheyet Nasser in Edgewar Road!!! He wasn't done there he was almost crying like a baby and calling the referee unfair cause of four added minutes of injury time, grow up will you Mr. Abdo, we are playing Rwanda and not Brazil. What really bugged me though was how he was portraying the game in a religious context. He kept insisting that please god since we were fasting and since this was Ramadan we must win and comments like that throughout the game. Mr. Abdo seems to forget that half the team from Rwanda were Muslims too, and that football was a sport and has nothing to do with religious beliefs. And like a famous sports writer in EL Masry EL Yome once said that if praying and fasting were the criteria for winning games and not skill then the Taliban would win the World Cup and dominate the Olympics!!!!

Cote D'Ivoire officially qualified yesterday after a 5-0 mauling of Burkina Faso. Cameroon found itself in a tough spot and beat group leaders Gabon away 2-0. This is the toughness we were always lacking and possibly might have found in Rwanda of all places. However don't be surprised if we lose it once again in Zambia.

Egyptian League Kicks- Off

The Egyptian League kicked-off yesterday evening with three games played.

Last season's runners up Ismaily came back from 2 goals down vs newly promoted Mansoura to snatch a precious away draw. Egyptian International goal keeper Essam El Hadary had his debut yesterday for Ismaily and conceded twice, news that I'm sure would have come as music to many Ahly fans' ears.

Defending Champions Al Ahly started off their campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Mahala in Cairo. Egypt Captain Ahmed Hassan opened up the scoring on 40 minutes while new signing Francis Doe or Foreky (not sure which is the right name) sealed the result by scoring on his debut with a well taken finish.

Ahly opted for a 4-5-1 formation, which for some reason the whole of Egypt likes to call 4-4-2, with Doe supported by Abu Trieka. Ahly dominated most of the match although never really impressing and Gilberto looked really out of place in the new set up, still, on his off day he was much better than his substitute Eino. The only positive to come out of the game (other than Doe) was young Goal Keeper Ahmed Abdel Moneim. He made a couple of decent saves and kept Ahly up 1-0 with an excellent 0ne-on-one stop. He still has a long way to go to prove that he is worthy of being Ahly's number one but looking at his current competition he should do well.

As for Doe..check out these 2 goals in the MLS

Elsewhere Tala' El Geish and Arab Contractors played out a 1-1 draw. The rest of the opening week's games are to be concluded tonight with the highlight of the games being the newly rejuvenated Zamalek taking on strong Enppi