CAIRO: Essam Al-Hadari s Sion eased their relegation fears with a late 2-1 victory over Vaduz in the Swiss Super League on Sunday. Colombian midfielder Alvaro Dominguez fired Sion in front one minute before the break. Brazilian striker Gaspar leveled the score 10 minutes after the restart but Congolese frontman Mobulu M Futi gave Sion …

CAIRO: Ten-man Ismaili maintained their title hopes with a 2-0 home victory over Harras Hodoud in the Egyptian Premier League on Saturday. The game was played behind closed doors as Ismaili serves a two-match home ban for the crowd trouble that marred their 1-0 defeat to Ahli. Nigerian striker Nasigba John-Jumbo, who joined Ismaili last …

CAIRO: Arab Contractors striker Reda Al-Weeshi is proud that his opener against Olympic is ranked among the fastest 10 goals in the Egyptian Premier League history. The combative frontman scored twice as Contractors defeated Olympic 3-1 on Friday. He needed 42 seconds to open the scoring, capitalizing on the keeper s failure to handle Ahmed …

CAIRO: Six-time African champions Egypt dropped 15 places in the monthly FIFA ranking to run off the top-20 list. The Pharaohs reached their first-ever position last month when they moved up to 15th spot but they couldn t hold onto it, reversing to 30th place. Egypt s retreat comes despite their 1-0 friendly victory over …

CAIRO: Mahmoud Abdul-Razek Shikabala said he intends to stay at Zamalek despite being jeered by his own fans during the 1-0 league defeat to Ghazl Mahalla. The talented winger was caught by TV cameras saying that he would never play again for the Cairo giants after being subjected to taunts from the angry Zamalek fans. …

Mido has been ruled out of Egypt s friendly game against Ghana on Wednesday after sustaining an injury during Wigan Athletic s goalless draw with Fulham. He suffered a muscle strain and asked to be substituted, Mido s brother Tamer Wasfi told FilGoal.com. Mido will miss the Ghana game because he needs five days of …

CAIRO: Assiut Petroleum is keen to make amends for their Egyptian Cup exit by beating bottom side Tersana in Wednesday s league game. Mohamed Amer s team had a chance to make history in the cup but their adventure was foiled by eventual winners Harras Hodoud, who defeated them 2-1 in the semi-final. I told …

CAIRO: Harras Hodoud coach Tarek Al-Ashri revealed that Ahly manager Manuel Jose motivated him ahead of the Egyptian Cup final against ENPPI. The military side won the first trophy in their history after defeating ENPPI 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to claim the cup title on Sunday. Jose called me yesterday and asked …

CAIRO: Harras Hodoud s veteran striker Abdul-Hamid Bassiouni hailed his side s Egyptian Cup triumph as the greatest moment of his career. The military club won the first title in their history after defeating ENPPI 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. I won a lot of trophies during my career but this time is …

CAIRO: Ismaili edged closer to signing Sion goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadari, according to sources inside the club. The Egypt goalkeeper accepted Ismaili’s offer and is expected to join them on a two-and-a-half year deal, the sources claimed. The Dervishes are yet to reach an agreement with Sion over the transfer fee but the matter should be …

CAIRO: Petrojet believe that Ahly s financial demands to sell defender Rami Adel are far too excessive. The petroleum club did not disclose the price Ahly set to offload Adel but said it was not rational. We are still in talks with Ahly nevertheless, Petrojet general secretary Saied Mostafa told FilGoal.com on Saturday. Adel prefers …

CAIRO: Middlesbrough s Egyptian striker Ahmed “Mido Hossam could join his compatriot Amr Zaki at Wigan Athletic before the closure of the January transfer window, according to Sky Sports. Mido would join Wigan in a swap deal that will see striker Marlon King, who is on loan at Hull City, heading to Middlesbrough. Both clubs …

CAIRO: Saudi side Wehda have made a bid to sign Ahly midfielder Ahmed Hassan before the closure of the January transfer window, a source close to the player said on Sunday. Wehda officials contacted Hassan when he was in Saudi Arabia to participate in their friendly against Bayern Munich, the source, who preferred to remain …

CAIRO: Ittihad s talks with Ghanaian playmaker Awuley Quaye Junior to sign him in the January transfer window have fell through due to financial differences. Junior was close to signing for the Alexandria-based club after passing a medical test on Saturday. The gap between Ittihad s offer and Junior s demands is wide, the former …

CAIRO: ENPPI were dealt a major blow with the news that winger Islam Awad might miss the rest of the season after tearing a cruciate ligament in his right knee. Awad sustained the injury during ENPPI s victory over Tersana in the Egyptian Cup quarter-final on Thursday. The player will undergo a surgery soon, ENPPI …

CAIRO: Ahly playmaker Mohamed Abou-Trika hasn’t given up hope of playing for a high-profile European team at some point during his career. “I do still have the desire to excel and play for a big team in Europe, Abou-Trika said in an interview with BBC Sport on Saturday. The Egyptian international, who has been recently …

CAIRO: Sion goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadari admitted that Ismaili are interested in signing him during the January transfer window. Ismaili opened talks with me over a possible move, the Egypt goalkeeper told FilGoal.com on Saturday. They also tabled an official bid but Sion are yet to respond because they are having their winter vacation. Al-Hadari refused …

PORT SAID: Masri confirmed on Saturday that interim boss Tarek Soliman will remain at the helm until the end of the season. The club s board decided to keep faith at Soliman. Tarek Al-Sawi will be his assistant, Masri chairman Ali Farag told FilGoal.com. The Port Said-based club recently sacked coach Hossam Hassan and his …

CAIRO: French coach Jacques Santini has turned down Zamalek s offer to become their new coach, the club s marketing director Khaled Refaat said on Sunday. Santini turned down our offer for family reasons, Refaat told FilGoal.com. The former France boss was due to arrive in Cairo on Saturday to hold talks with Zamalek over …

PORT SAID: Masri confirmed on Saturday that interim boss Tarek Soliman will remain at the helm until the end of the season. The club s board decided to keep faith at Soliman. Tarek Al-Sawi will be his assistant, Masri chairman Ali Farag told FilGoal.com. The Port Said-based club recently sacked coach Hossam Hassan and his …

ISMAILIYA: Mohamed Barakat s second-half strike earned Ahly a 1-0 away victory over Ismaili in an ill-tempered Egyptian Premier League clash on Saturday. The mercurial midfielder scored the winner five minutes past the hour mark to dent Ismaili s hopes of competing for the league title. Ahly players rushed into the tunnel right following the …

Ahly playmaker Mohamed Abou-Trika said he and his teammates were willing to do anything to ease the misery of Gaza people following Israel s bombardment of the strip. We are eager to help all Gazans, Abou-Trika told Ahly s official website late on Wednesday. I suggest that Ahly or Egypt play against a high-profile team, …

CAIRO Veteran midfielder Ahmed Hassan insisted on Thursday the notion of leaving Ahly did not cross his mind. The Egyptian international joined Ahly in the close season after his contract with Belgian giants Anderlecht expired. He put in superb displays in Ahly s two Cairo derbies victory over Zamalek early in the season but failed …

CAIRO: Arab Contractors striker Reda Al-Weeshi said Zamalek opened talks with him over a possible move in January. I m ready to join them once an official bid is tabled, Al-Weeshi told FilGoal.com on Sunday. I prefer to leave Contractors if coach Mohamed Radwan continued to rely on other strikers upfront. The combative frontman joined …

CAIRO: Zamalek have decided to deduct money from every player who took part in the 1-0 defeat to third-division side Bani Obeid in the Egyptian Cup round of 32. The deduction will be the biggest in the club s history, interim coach Ahmed Refaat told Zamalek official website on Sunday. The minimum deduction for a …

CAIRO: Ismaili reached the Arab Champions League (ACL) quarter-final after thrashing 10-man USM Alger 4-1 on Sunday to advance with a comprehensive 7-2 aggregate win. The Dervishes, who defeated Alger 3-1 in the first-leg at home, proved far superior to their opponents to book a last-eight berth. In-form Iraqi striker Mostafa Karim opened the scoring …

CAIRO: Ahly s marketing director Adli Al-Qaeyi sees no reason why the Red Devils can t exchange players with arch-rivals Zamalek. Egypt s football history did not witness any player joining Ahly from Zamalek or vice-versa. All the players who made such shocking moves were free agents like former Egypt greats Hossam Hassan and Gamal …

CAIRO: World Soccer magazine chose Egypt as the fifth best team in the world following the Pharaohs exploits in 2008. Egypt won 4.4 percent of the votes to outshine several high-profile teams including Argentina and Russia, who finished seventh and ninth respectively. EURO 2008 champions Spain finished on top, ahead of Champions League winners Manchester …

CAIRO: Henri Michel snubbed Zamalek’s offer to become their new coach, the French coach’s agent said on Saturday. Yes, it is true they (Zamalek) approached us a couple weeks ago expressing interest in acquiring the services of Michel, Jean-Mark Eyong was quoted as saying by Kickoff.com. We turned down their offer due to the coach’s …

CAIRO: Egyptian defender Amir Azmi said on Saturday that he decided to leave Turkish side Hacettepe Spor when the transfer window re-opens in January. The former Zamalek man is growing increasingly frustrated with the club’s inability to give him his dues. I sought permission from Hacettepe Sport officials to leave the club next month, Azmi …