CAIRO: Hazem Emam scored in the first-half to help Zamalek edge Burundi’s Vital’O 1-0 away from home and advance to the African Champions League round of 32 on Saturday. The Zamalek skipper, who also scored in the first-leg, notched home what proved to be the winner in the 20th minute. The Cairo giants progressed to …

When they asked Amitabh Bachchan why he thought he had been selected the greatest star of the millennium in a BBC online poll, beating the likes of Marlon Brando, Lawrence Olivier and Charlie Chaplin, he said he believed it was due to the exceptionally large number of Indians in the world. His compatriots in the …

CAIRO: A last-gasp strike by Ahmed Al-Muhammadi earned Egypt a 1-1 home draw with Ivory Coast in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games qualifiers to salvage the Pharaohs’ hopes of reaching the group stage. Sekou Cisse put the visitors ahead in the first-half before substitute Al-Muhammadi secured a precious draw for Egypt in stoppage time. Egypt …

CAIRO: Egypt scored a goal late in each half and upset Sweden 2-0 in a Wednesday friendly to honor the 50th anniversary of the African soccer confederation. Amr Zaki converted Ahmed Hassan s cross in the 44th minute with a well-placed header into the right of the goal beyond Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson. Ahmed Fathi …

CAIRO: World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi is scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Thursday at the request of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to conduct a series of workshops for local coaches. The EFA has organized a press conference for the former Italy boss upon arrival, spokesman Medhat Shalabi told FilGoal.com on Wednesday. “Mr …

Zamalek team gets punished, too CAIRO: Ahly coach Manuel Jose has been suspended for four games and fined LE 50,000 for inappropriate conduct during his team’s league game against Harras Al-Hodoud, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced on Monday. The Portuguese manager started to undress on the sideline in protest over referee Nasser Abbass’s decisions. …

CAIRO: Portuguese coach Manuel Jose issued a statement on Sunday apologizing for his unsporting behavior during Ahly s Egyptian League match against Harras Al-Hodoud on Friday. Jose was ejected from the game for his inappropriate objection over referee Nasser Abbass in the 73rd minute. The Ahly manager was so frustrated by the decisions of referee …

CAIRO: Zamalek coach Henri Michel said he doesn t care about the ongoing saga between Zamalek board of directors and the club s midfielder Moetazbellah Mohamed Eno . The Cairo giants are purportedly enraged at Eno after he missed several training sessions and failed to take part in Zamalek s 4-1 victory over Vital O …

CAIRO: Manual Jose, the Portuguese coach of Egyptian and African champions Al Ahly, apologized on Sunday for starting to undress in public in protest against a referee s decision. Jose took off his jacket and started to unbutton his shirt after referee Nasser Abbas booked Ahly s Tunisian midfielder Anis Boujelbene during the team s …

CAIRO: Egypt stormed back from a one-goal deficit to squash Belarus 4-1 and win the International Friendship Tournament in Qatar on Wednesday. The game looked heading towards an extra time when the score was tied at 1-1 with just seven minutes remaining on the clock. But the Egyptians opened the floodgates with Ahmed Samir, Mohamed …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) decided on Monday to suspend its participation in Arab Futsal activities indefinitely in response to the brutal assault launched on Egyptian players by Libyans in the Arab Cup last week. Libyan security forces clubbed the Egyptian team players during the interval of the final game against the hosts, leaving …

CAIRO: Zamalek celebrated their African Champions League return with a thrashing 4-1 home win over Burundi s Vital O in the first-leg of the competition s preliminary round on Sunday. Amr Zaki, Hazem Emam, Mostafa Gaafar and Tarek Al-Sayed were on the score sheet to help Zamalek, who didn t feature in last year s …

Egyptian striker Ahmed Hossam Mido ended a three-month goal-drought when he scored on Saturday to help Tottenham Hotspur beat Championship side Southend 3-1 and advance to the FA Cup fifth round. Irish striker Robbie Keane put the Spurs ahead after 12 minutes when he received Didier Zokora s pass before hitting a low shot that …

CAIRO: Ahly youngster Ahmed Galal nailed a hat-trick as Ahly romped to a 3-0 victory over first division side Talkha Electricity on Saturday and advanced to the Egyptian Cup round of 16. The title holders will face Petrojet, who edged Gasco 2-1, in the competition s second round. Assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri was in charge …

ABU DHABI: Saudi Arabia and Bahrain clinched the remaining semifinal spots at the Gulf Cup on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia defeated Iraq 1-0 to top Group B, while Bahrain beat defending champion Qatar 2-1 to edge Iraq to second place on goal difference. Bahrain s victory set up a meeting with Group A leader Oman in …

Cairo: Egypt and Tottenham striker Ahmed Hossam Mido is reportedly among several targets on Manchester City s shopping list, BBC sport said. The 23-year-old international is sought by City manager Stuart Pearce, who wants to reinforce his attacking options in January, added the Wednesday s unsourced report. Mido finds life difficult at White Hart Lane …

NEW YORK: Côte d’Ivoire soccer star Didier Drogba, currently top scorer in the English Premiership and the European Champions League, has become the latest football great to shoot for the United Nations, where he will seek to score a different kind of goal in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The UN Development Program …

The announcement made by Enppi club that they promoted Hani Ramzi to replace head coach Rainer Zobel and demoting the German manager to take on a peripheral role only proves the club has taken a wrong path. In order for any system to run properly, there must be regulations; but in Egyptian football anything is …

The recent news that the world s most celebrated boy king, Tutankhamen, used to play football only adds to the long list of evidence that our old, old forefathers not only invented soccer but had a ball conceiving many other sports. That the ancient Egyptians were first in sports is well-documented. Because the Pharaohs were …

CAIRO: Zamalek will be one of the most prominent Arab teams in the 11-month climb to the summit of African club football beginning this weekend with a first round of Champions League qualifiers featuring six former title holders. Canon Yaounde of Cameroon, Esperance of Tunisia, JS Kabylie of Algeria, TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic …

Cairo: Egypt s hopes of going far in the Handball World Cup were scattered on Sunday when they were defeated 30-29 by the Czech Republic. The Pharaohs second group game left them competing for third place when they take on Qatar in the last game. Both sides were handed defeats by the Czechs and defending …

FRANKFURT: Egypt came desperately close to netting its first win at the Handball World Championship in Bremen, Germany on Sunday. Losing 30-31 to the Czech Republic 30-31, Egypt has now lost both games in Group D and is likely out of the competition. Germany got five goals apiece from Christian Zeitz and Sebastian Preiss in …

MAINZ, Germany: Egyptian international striker Mohammed Zidan has signed for struggling Bundesliga club Mainz 05 after failing to make his mark at table-toppers Werder Bremen. Zidan, 25, signed a contract that will see him at Mainz until 2010, with Bremen believed to have received 2.5 million euros for the Egyptian s services. Zidan moved to …

Cairo: Egypt wasted a chance to kick-off their 2007 World Handball Championship with a win after losing to title holders Spain 33-29 in Bremen on Saturday. Spain are joint leaders with Czech Republic in Group D with two points while Egypt is third with no points. Egypt produced a fine display in the first-half, inspired …

Cairo: World football s governing body FIFA denied in an official statement on Wednesday that African champions Ahly were involved in any doping violation cases. FIFA and its President, Joseph S. Blatter, are keen to dispel the rumor currently circulating that two players from Ahly Sporting Club (Egypt) failed doping tests after the 2006 CAF …

Cairo: FIFA president Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter raised suspicions of doping violations by Egyptian champions Ahly when he said that the world football governing body has discovered two positive cases during their African Champions League campaign. Blatter, speaking at a press conference in Paris on Friday, revealed that FIFA has found out two more cases than …

CAIRO: National team goalkeeper Nader Al-Sayed has moved from African champions Al Ahly to Cairo rivals ENPPI in a high-profile Egyptian transfer. Al-Sayed signed a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee with a club in the bottom half of the 16-club national championship after failing to unseat Ahly first-choice goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadary. I do not …

Cairo: Hassan Mostafa s goal gave Al Ahly a 1-0 win over bottom club Asyut Petroleum on Monday to extend their premier league lead to nine points. Second-placed Ismaili lost 1-0 to struggling ENPPI, who earned a first win for their new coach, former Bundesliga player Hani Ramzy. Zamalek stayed third, 11 points behind Al …

Cairo: Substitute playmaker Awuley Quay Junior scored a controversial goal in the stoppage time to give Zamalek a thrilling 2-1 victory over Petrojet in the Egyptian Premier League on Monday. The Ghanaian midfielder tucked home on the rebound in the 90th minute after Osama Hassan s bullet cannoned off the crossbar. Although none of Petrojet …