CAIRO: Anderlecht midfielder Ahmed Hassan finished as runner-up in the 2007 Belgium Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year. Standard Liege skipper Steven Defour claimed the award after a fierce competition with the Egypt captain. Hassan also finished second in 2006 behind then-teammate Mohamed Tchite, currently at Racing Santander. The 32-year-old Hassan …

Club Africain midfielder Lassaad Ouertani revealed on Monday that Zamalek are interested in acquiring his services. Zamalek officials contacted me and made their interest known to Club Africain president, Ouertani told Tunisian paper Assabah. The president said he won t consider any offer until the end of the season because the club have many important …

CAIRO: Egypt assistant coach Shawki Gharib believes his side produced their best display in the African Cup of Nations preparations following a 3-3 draw with Angola on Sunday. We are pleased with Egypt s performance against Angola. This match was far better than our previous two friendlies against Namibia and Mali, Gharib told FilGoal.com. Emad …

CAIRO: Ismaili have turned down Al-Ahli s hefty bid to sign left-back Sayed Moawad after a meeting between the club s board of directors and Ismailia governor on Wednesday. The Dervishes chairman Yehia Al-Koumi recently announced that Moawad is set to complete a move to rivals Ahli for LE 6 million. His announcement prompted an …

CAIRO: Ahli assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri believes the players’ poor display was to blame for their shock exit from the Egyptian Cup at the hands of second-division side Asyut Petroleum.The Cairo giants, who dominated Egypt’s secondary competition in the past two years, slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Asyut to suffer an early elimination from …

CAIRO: Abdul-Halim Ali scored twice as Zamalek eased to a 3-0 home victory over third division side Ismailia Electricity to progress to the Egyptian Cup round of 16 on Friday. Mostafa Gaafar, who was the architect of Ali’s brace, was also on the scoresheet after notching his first goal of the season. The Cairo giants …

CAIRO: The Egyptian FA are considering a hefty LE 50 million offer from an Arab Television network to have the exclusive rights to broadcast league matches. The offer may prompt us to halt our current policy to sell the league’s satellite rights to several TV networks, an Egyptian FA official who refused to be named, …

CAIRO: Mohamed Abdullah believes his switch to Zamalek will boost his chances of earning a place on the Egypt squad. The right-back moved to Zamalek from Konyaspor and is determined to make up for the disappointing spell he had with the Turkish side. I chose Zamalek because they will give me the chance to feature …

CAIRO: Amr Zaki s double led 10-man Zamalek to an easy 3-0 home victory over Telecom Egypt as the Cairo giants moved to second place in the Egyptian League table. Osama Hassan opened the scoring in the 36th minute before being sent-off in the second period due to a second bookable offense. Zaki, who shrugged …

CAIRO: Anderlecht midfielder Ahmed Hassan scored twice but Sint-Truidense managed to snatch a dramatic 4-3 home victory in the Belgian League on Sunday. Midfielder Rocky Peeters put the hosts in front in the 25th minute before Egypt skipper Hassan leveled the score four minutes later. Jelle Van Damme added the second for the title holders …

CAIRO: Al Ahly striker Emad Meteb denied on Sunday reports linking him with a move abroad, expressing his desire to maintain his current fine form. Neither Al Ahly nor I have been officially approached regarding a move abroad, Meteb told FilGoal.com. I m not thinking of departing Al Ahly now; I just hope to please …

CAIRO: Zamalek have condemned Manuel Jose s criticism of them following Al Ahly s 3-0 victory over Aluminum in the Egyptian League. The Ahly boss was responding to his skeptics when he pointed to what he believes is Zamalek s failure to promote young talents to the first team. Al Ahly s arch-rivals Zamalek were …

CAIRO: Ittihad coach Mohamed Salah said he will sue midfielder Hesham Hanafi after the latter accused him of accepting money from players to select them in the starting line-up. I hope the technical staff members support me in this case, Salah told FilGoal.com on Wednesday. Hanafi caused controversy after questioning Salah s choices to field …

CAIRO: Zamalek s carelessness cost them a win against the newly-promoted Aluminum that secured a dramatic 2-2 draw at home in the League on Sunday. Harbi Tawfik s strike 13 minutes after the break cancelled out Gamal Hamza s opener for Zamalek in the first-half. Tamer Abdel Hamid restored Zamalek s lead in the 72nd …

CAIRO: Substitute Gamal Hamza converted a late penalty to lead Zamalek to a precious 1-0 home victory over Arab Contractors in the Egyptian League on Wednesday.The 26-year-old notched the winner 11 minutes from time after his shirt was tugged by a Contractors defender.The victory put Zamalek in fourth spot of the league table with 20 …

CAIRO: Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq Shikabala notched twice to lead Zamalek to a crushing 3-0 away victory over Harras Al-Hodoud in an ill-tempered Egyptian League clash on Saturday. The former PAOK Saloniki playmaker opened the scoring after a breakdown in communications in Al-Hodoud s backline early in the first-half before Abdul-Halim Ali added the second six minutes …

CAIRO: French boss Henri Michel revealed the requests he submitted to Zamalek s board before signing the two-year contract extension which will keep him at the club until 2009. I demanded new medical and physical facilities as well as a gymnasium center, Michel told a press conference at Zamalek s headquarters on Saturday. The former …

CAIRO: Two penalties from midfielder Hosni Abd-Rabou earned Ismaili a 4-2 home victory over Harras Al-Hodoud in the Egyptian League on Monday. Amr Samir and Sayed Moawad also notched for the Dervishes while Abdul-Salam Nagah and Amr Al-Dali were on target for Al-Hodoud. Military club Al-Hodoud played with 10 men on the field for the …

CAIRO: Zamalek keeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef conceded he will not be able to join Lazio because the Italian Serie A side currently have three non-European players. I m not waiting for Lazio s reply, it s over because there is no place for another foreigner, Abdul-Monsef told FilGoal.com on Monday. The 30-year-old keeper has just returned …

CAIRO: Egypt coach Hassan Shehata has called-up Al Ahly skipper Shadi Mohamed for the first time since 2003 in his 23-man squad for Mauritania game in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers on Sunday. Tersana uncapped goalkeeper Ahmed Saad has been also included while Harras Al-Hodoud midfielder Abdul-Salam Nagah will take part in his first …

CAIRO: Ismaili goalkeeper Mohamed Sobhi blocked a stoppage-time penalty to help his side claim a 2-2 away draw with Madagascar side Ajesaia in the first-leg of the Confederation Cup round of 32. The Dervishes went one down in the 15th minute but midfielder Mohamed Soliman Hommos leveled the score four minutes before the break. Hommos …

CAIRO: Zamalek boosted their Arab Champions League hopes after beating Kuwait’s Qadsia 4-2 at Cairo International Stadium in a thrilling encounter on Thursday. Abu Kone stunned the home crowd in the 17th minute before Ghanaian midfielder Awuley ‘Junior’ Quaye leveled the score seven minutes before the interval. Abdul-Halim Ali put Zamalek ahead five minutes after …

Al-Ahli s league game against ENPPI has been postponed to help the Egyptian champions prepare properly for their African Champions League final on Nov. 11, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said on Saturday. We ve accepted Al-Ahli s request to emphasize that the EFA is fully behind the Egyptian representative in their crucial clash, spokesman …

filgoal.com Ahmed Mido Hossam scored twice and dished out an assist to lead Tottenham Hotspur to achieve a thrashing 5-0 victory over Milton Keynes Dons in the Carling Cup on Wednesday. Jermaine Defoe also netted a brace and Irish international Robbie Keane scored to help Tottenham advance to the next phase. Spurs will face Port …

Zamalek midfielder Alaa Abdul-Ghani will be out of action for a fortnight after suffering an arm injury during his side s Arab Champions League (ACL) match against OS Meknes. The 27-year-old broke his right arm in Zamalek s 2-2 draw with Morocco s Meknes in the second-leg of the ACL preliminary round on Sunday, the …

Team moves into sixth spot on league table CAIRO: Two goals from Flavio Amado and Mohamed Abu Treika gave Al-Ahly an easy 2-0 home win over Ghazl Mahalla in the Egyptian League on Thursday. Angolan international Flavio broke the deadlock early in the first half before Abu Treika sealed the victory in the 33rd minute. …

FilGoal.com Ahli satellite channel, set to launch later this year, will have the exclusive satellite rights of airing the team s domestic games, club Chairman Hassan Hamdi said on Wednesday. The matches will be aired terrestrially as usual but our channel will be the only available satellite broadcaster, Hamdi told a press briefing. There are …