Cairo: Al Ahly club has signed Tunisian midfielder Anis Boujelbene from Sfaxien on a two-and-half year contract for $50.000, the African champions said on Monday. Boujelbene will be paid $400.000 as signing fees and monthly salaries till June 2009, marketing manager Adli Al-Qayei said. The 29-year-old Boujelbene, who can play on the left wing or …

CAIRO: Whether he has the potential to be the Tiger Woods or the Michael Jordan of squash is debatable. Right now, Ramy Ashour is just beating the sport’s top players like an old pro. The 19 year-old Egyptian won the Pace Canadian Squash Classic in Toronto on Friday, defeating the second-ranked player in the world …

Cairo: Football, football and always football. Isn’t there anything else to talk about around here? So as to not be accused of too much soccer bias, let’s talk team handball. We are, after all, playing in the World Championship in Germany starting Jan. 19. We’ll be making our seventh straight appearance in a World Championship, …

Ismaili edges closer to AhlyCairo: Two goals from Abdul-Halim Ali and Osama Hassan in the first-half were enough for Zamalek to grab an easy 2-0 home victory over ENPPI in the Egyptian League on Thursday. The Cairo giants are still in third place of the league table with 33 points, five behind second-placed Ismaili and …

CAIRO: In what will likely soften the blow that football hero Mohamed Aboutrika was not chosen as the African Footballer of the year, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has nominated Egypt and the Al-Ahly club for two prestigious awards. The Egyptian national team, which won the African Cup of Nations last year leads Ghana …

CAIRO: Egypt and Zamalek striker Amr Zaki said that Sheffield United have set a fresh £3 million bid to sign him during January and urged his side to accept the offer that might not be repeated . I will meet Zamalek directors and try to convince them to accept the English offer, Zaki told FilGoal.com …

CAIRO: Tottenham Hotspur is open to talks for Egypt striker Mido due to his tensed relationship with Dutch manager Martin Jol, The Mirror reported. Jol will listen to offers for Egyptian Mido after falling out with the striker, the British newspaper said on Wednesday. Mido has been involved in a number of rows with his …

CAIRO: Egyptian critics are continuing to lash out at Ahly manager Manuel Jose following his side s 3-0 defeat against Ismaili on Sunday. The boisterous criticism comes despite the recent honeymoon between the Portuguese manager and the press who had showered him with praise recently after his African and international accomplishments. Al-Miniawi refutes Jose s …

CAIRO: Egyptian and African champions Al Ahly said on Tuesday that their goalkeeper Nader Al-Sayed has joined ENPPI on a permanent basis starting from January. Al Ahly marketing director Adli Al-Qaeyi told FilGoal.com that the club received two offers from ENPPI and Ittihad Alexandria but the player decided to join the Cairo-based club. Al-Qaeyi added …

CAIRO: Zamalek manager Henri Michel hit out at predecessor Manuel Cajuda, accusing him of failing to prepare the players physically for such a long season. Michel told FilGoal.com that he is not used to criticizing his predecessors but the players disappointing form can only be blamed on the Portuguese. The veteran French coach said that …

CAIRO: French coach Henri Michel celebrated success for the first time at struggling Egyptian club Zamalek when they edged Al-Ahly Jeddah of Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the Arab Champions League at the weekend. Striker Mustapha Gaafar returned after injury to score the 19th-minute winner, latching on to a headed pass from Amr Zaki to secure …

African champions Al Ahly lost their 30-month unbeaten domestic record on Sunday, emphatically beaten 3-0 by Ismaili in the Egyptian premier league. It was the first defeat for Al Ahly in Egypt since they lost the Egyptian Cup final to Arab Contractors in July 2004. Their last league loss was against arch rivals Zamalek in …

CAIRO: Nothing gets the patriotic adrenalin going more than wars and sport. Thank God, we’re not involved in the former which makes the Pan-Arab Games and All-Africa Games, both to be played this year, the battles which will rally us around the flag. Egypt has a historical padlock on the Pan-Arab Games. We did not …

Cairo: Ahmed Hassan lofted a superb lob home after the break to mark a rare start and lead Ahly to a 1-0 victory over Tanta in the Egyptian League on Wednesday. Hassan, who played to cover the absence of starting midfielders Mohamed Shawki and Hossam Ashour, scored the winner in the 70th minute. Islam Al-Shater …

CAIRO: Henri Michel s debut with Zamalek was foiled by Ghazl Mahalla after a goalless draw in the Egyptian League on Wednesday. Zamalek s hopes of competing for the league title faded as the result put them in third place of the table with 30 points, a massive 11 points behind leaders Ahly who still …

CAIRO: The Confederation Africaine de Football (the Confederation of African Football, sometimes known as CAF) yesterday denied reports that it had scheduled the Ahly game with Etoile du Sahel in Khartoum and said the appointed venue was in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. According to www.cafonline.com, CAF’s official website, “The super cup match between Ahly …

Cairo: Egypt and Ismaili defender Ahmed Fathi is set to join Premiership side Sheffield United during January for 700,000 sterling pounds (just under LE 8 million), the coastal club said. Ismaili vice president Ibrahim Ashour told FilGoal.com on Monday that the club accepted the English offer because Fathi was keen on moving to Europe. Sheffield …

Cairo: Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly lost four teeth in a collision with Portsmouth defender Noe Pamarot during their 1-1 draw in the Premiership. Ghaly wasn t even awarded a foul and Tottenham manager Martin Jol was left fuming over the challenge. I asked the referee and he said it wasn t a foul but when …

Cairo: No one can deny that Ronaldinho is the best player in the world. The Brazilian’s talent speaks for itself, as does the host of prestigious awards that he has under his belt, but the FIFA Club World Cup Bronze Ball should not have been one of them. The fact that Barcelona’s playmaker received the …

Cairo: Zamalek striker Amr Zaki missed his side s training on Monday, two days ahead of the Mahalla game in the Egyptian League. Ibrahim Saied, Mostafa Gaafar, Magdi Atwa and Tamer Abdul-Wahab also didn t take part in the practice. Ahmed Abdullah, Zamalek s team director said Zaki and Saied met with coach Mahmoud Saad …

CAIRO: Samuel Eto o was named among the three candidates for the 2006 African Player of the Year Award, putting him in contention to win the title for a record fourth straight year. But Egypt’s star player, Mohamed Aboutrika, who scored repeatedly in both the African Champions League for team Al Ahly and the African …

JOHANNESBURG: Egypt s Al Ahly will meet Tunisia s Etoile Sahel in Africa s Super Cup in Khartoum, Sudan on Feb. 18 after officials broke with the tradition of allowing the African Champions League winners host the match. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) want the Super Cup to form part of their 50th anniversary …

Cairo: Angolan striker Flavio notched twice on his birthday to lead title holders Ahli to a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Zamalek in the Egyptian League on Saturday. Ahli went to the lockers room with a two-goal lead through the in-form striker before substitute Osama Hassan pulled one back for Zamalek 11 minutes after the interval. …

Egypt capturing the Africa Cup of Nations was the definite high point of the 2006 calendar as we scan the year that was. The February win was sweet for these reasons: the tournament was staged in Egypt, nobody, especially Egyptians, thought Egypt would win it, and it gave Egypt a record five such titles. Besides …

CAIRO: Rivals Al Ahly and Zamalek clash on Saturday in the traditional Egyptian derby, the last major event of a busy year for African football. The derby is expected to bring a capacity 70,000 crowd to the Cairo International stadium, but the 128th meeting between the two Cairo clubs comes at a time of contrasting …

CAIRO: The stars of Cairo football club Al-Ahly conquered Africa twice this year to emerge as continental kings. Last February, an Ahly-dominated Egypt team won the African Nations Cup a record fifth time with a penalty shootout victory over Ivory Coast before a capacity 80,000 crowd here. In November, Ahly retained the African Champions League …

CAIRO: Mostafa Gaafar notched home late in the second-half to help Zamalek register a hard-fought 3-2 home victory over Harras Al-Hodoud in a thrilling Egyptian League match on Tuesday. Al-Hodoud came from a two-goal deficit to level the score through Mohamed Halim and Hani Saied after Tarek Al-Sayed and Youssef Hamdi put Zamalek initially ahead. …

Cajuda’s, Ramzi’s efforts appreciated, says Zamalek chairman CAIRO: French manager Henri Michel said on Tuesday he is excited about his new job as Zamalek manager, stressing that with work and dedication the team can get back of the winning track. I have been excited since talks started with Zamalek started because they have an ambitious …

CAIRO: Emad Meteb struck deep in stoppage time to give 10-man Ahly a stunning 2-1 win over ENPPI in the Egyptian league on Tuesday. Meteb chested down Flavio Amado s header in the area before sidestepping his marker and firing a brilliant close-range volley past stranded ENPPI keeper Mostafa Kamal. The win extended Ahly s …