Egyptian league back after revolution

by abdo Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:14 pm

Preview: Egyptian league back after revolution
By:Omar AbdelAziz | Tue , 12 Apr 2011 - 22:33| (403)
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An extraordinary Egyptian Premier League season is set to resume on Wednesday, putting an end to a break of more than two months.

Matches were put on hold since the January 25 Revolution took place and the domestic league was on brink of being called off amid major security concerns.

The chaos that marred Zamalek’s continental clash with Club Africain earlier this month put the competition under further scrutiny, but the FA managed to get the green light from authorities against all odds.

All eyes will be on security forces who face a major task to convince the nation that the decision from the Ministry of Interior to resume football activities was not a hasty one.

Crunch games

Apart from the security factor, this week features some exciting top-of-the-table encounters as the contest at the bottom gets under way as well.

In Cairo, leaders Zamalek will be looking for their first victory in three years over cup champions Harras Hodoud, who are languihsing in 11th place.

Zamalek will be hoping to overcome internal squad problems and maintain their leadership in the domestic league, which became the Cairo giants’ only hope of silverware this term.

The Whites have been recently rocked by the saga involving veteran keeper Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed, who was almost stripped of the captain’s armband after falling out with football director Ibrahim Hassan.

But a number of Zamalek players insisted that they ‘will strive to keep the team top by setting their internal issues aside when they get onto the pitch’.

"We haven't decided yet about the captaincy issue, but even if Abdul-Wahed was stripped of the armband, it will temporary," coach Hossam Hassan said.

"I am confident we can beat Hodoud. I don't believe that we are unlucky against them."

Ahli face tough Police test

Hassan’s side will be without injury-plagued striker Amr Zaki, but have January returnee Mido fit to start against the Alexandrians.

Hodoud, on the other hand, have a long list of absentees led by influential duo Ahmed Eid and Mohamed Halim, but veteran full-back Islam Al-Shater returns.

Another Cairo encounter will take place between defending champions Ahli and surprise package Police Union, with both teams level on 26 points.

Ahli boss Manuel Jose dropped Egypt skipper Ahmed Hassan, but has another veteran fit again in Mohamed Barakat.

The Reds miss striker Emad Meteb, who is set to have a scan on a broken rib this week, but January signing Dominique da Silva is in line to make his league debut.

In Ismailia, second-placed Ismaili entertain Petrojet, who could move to third with a victory over Mark Wotte’s team.

Relegation battle

Arab Contractors face Wadi Degla in an exciting bottom-of-the-table clash at Green Mountain, where the newcomers registered a famous 4-1 victory on their league debut on week 1.

But they only managed two more wins in their next 14 games to finish the first half of the season second from bottom.

Rock bottom Ittihad will visit MCDR with their youth team after first-team players went on strike over their unpaid wages before being dropped by new coach Ahmed Sari.

The Alexandrians will be relying on Africain trio Felix Awoa, Marc Mboua and Edet Otobong, who finished the first half of the season on top of the scoring charts despite his team’s poor position.