LAGOS: The Confederation of African Football (CAF) picked Egypt coach, Hassan Shehata as Africa s Coach of the Year, and the team he led to successfully defend the Nations Cup in Accra last year were picked as the best national team on the continent. Ahly were crowned Club of the Year ahead of Tunisia s …

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: Wigan Athletic striker Mido said he’s unconditionally loyal to the Egyptian national team, refusing allegations that he never reaches full potential when playing for the Pharaohs. Mido hasn’t regularly played for his country since his infamous bust-up with coach Hassan Shehata during the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Cairo. However, the pair buried …

CAIRO: Ahly Jeddah playmaker Walid Soliman whipped in some precise crosses to help his team beat Taawon 4-1 in a friendly game on Sunday. The Egyptian midfielder, who joined the Saudi giants on a six-month loan from Petrojet, was named in the starting eleven and put in a promising performance. The 24-year-old is yet to …

CAIRO: Ahly assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri denied claims that the Cairo giants made an approach to sign ENPPI striker Ahmed Raouf. Recent reports suggested that Ahly were interested in luring Raouf, especially after the player said that he nearly joined the Red Devils before joining his current club. “Raouf is a very good player, but …

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. …

CAIRO: Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate stated that Mido could rejoin the Riverside when his brief loan period with Wigan Athletic ends. The Egyptian international, who fell down the pecking order at Boro, sealed a loan move to the Latics until the end of the season. There s nothing agreed with Wigan at this stage, Southgate …

CAIRO: Algeria tactician Rabeh Saadan said his team s 2010 World Cup qualifier against Rwanda is more important than their highly-anticipated clash with Egypt. The Pharaohs have been drawn in Group C alongside Algeria, Zambia and Rwanda in the last phase of the World Cup and African Cup of Nations (CAN) qualifying stage. Rwanda will …

CAIRO: Zamalek midfielder Mohamed Aboul-Ella stated that Zamalek’s initial offer to prolong his stay at the club is unacceptable. Aboul-Ella, whose contract at Zamalek will expire by the end of the season, was offered L.E. 800,000 a season to stay at the Cairo club. “Newcomers are offered L.E. 900,000 per season, so how can I …

Ahly goalkeeping coach Ahmed Nagi reiterated that Amir Abdul-Hamid is capable of standing between the sticks on the international stage. Nagi dished out praise for the 29-year-old goalie after the Red Devils 2-1 victory over Sfaxien in the African Super Cup clash at Cairo stadium on Friday. Amir has what it takes to feature for …

Alexandria Stadium manager Ahmed Kamis called on Ittihad and Olympic to hold their home Egyptian Premier League games at other venues. The medium-sized stadium is going to be refurbished ahead of the U-20 World Cup, which will be hosted by Egypt, and thus will be out of service for a while. We need to temporarily …

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 …

Egypt could finish no higher than 14th in the 24-team World Handball Championship recently held in Croatia. The result is slightly better than 17th two years ago, 15th in 2003, and in 2005, 14th. But it s mega miles away from our semi-final appearance in 2001, the first non-European country to reach the last four …

CAIRO: Police Union coach Talaat Youssef was glad to see his team fight back from two goals down to draw with Egypt Telecom in the Egyptian Premier League. Police scored twice in the game’s last 30 minutes through Abdullah Farouk and Mahmoud Abdul-Rahman to salvage a point against Helmi Toulan’s Telecom. “We were the better …

CAIRO: Arab Contractors coach Mohamed Radwan said that his team will have a tough task on their hands when they face Gaish in the Egyptian Premier League on Thursday. Contractors beat Gaish in the two teams’ league opener in August, but Radwan admits that his opponents improved a lot during the course of the season. …

CAIRO: The Egyptian pair of Mohamed Abdul-Wahed and Ahmed Samir had a great night as they helped Lierse to reach the Belgian Cup semi-final by beating Racing Mechelen 3-0. After their 1-0 defeat in the quarter-final’s first leg, goals from Abdul-Wahed, Jurgen Cavens and Tomas Radzinki put Lierse on course for reaching the semis. While …

Ismaili president Nasr Aboul-Hassan confirmed that defender Ibrahim Saied won’t get back to the team unless he’s subjected to investigation. Following a row with the board over his financial dues, Saied abandoned the team’s training sessions, and Aboul-Hassan confirmed the incident won’t go without punishing the player. “Saied won’t be allowed back in trainings before …

Egypt coach Hassan Shehata will name a 19-man squad on Friday for the Pharaohs’ friendly against Ghana. The Master already called up seven foreign-based players, and the rest of the squad will be officially announced tomorrow. The game will witness the return of Mohamed Zidan, who didn t play for Egypt since featuring in the …

CAIRO: Junior Agogo s agent Ernest Okudzeto was stunned when Zamalek s officials told him the Ghanaian international was sanctioned because he didn t sweat during a match. The well-built hitman had $200,000 deducted from his payments as a disciplinary action, but the Cairo side didn t reveal the reason why he was punished. Consequently, …

CAIRO: Former Iraq boss Adnan Hamad was named new coach of Jordan, following the sacking of Nelo Vingada three days ago, the Jordanian Football Association said. Hamad, who had a successful spell with Jordanian giants Faisali in 2006, quit Iraq last June ending his fourth separate spell with the war-torn nation. The 48-year-old Iraqi is …

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 …

ZURICH: FIFA announced that Egypt withdrew at the last minute from preliminary bids to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, which include applications by the United States, England and Russia. FIFA said the expressions of interest received by the Tuesday deadline did not include China. Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Indonesia and Qatar all …

CAIRO: A new English FA regulation will prevent Wigan Athletic striker Mido from facing his original club Middlesbrough, The Evening Post newspaper confirmed. The Egyptian, who joined Middlesbrough in 2006, was loaned out to the Latics in January until the end of the current season. The FA’s new regulation prevents players on loan from facing …

CAIRO: Sfaxien manager Ghazi Gherairi is unconcerned with Mohamed Abou-Trika s sole threat as he respects Ahly as a team , ahead of Friday s African Super Cup clash. Abou-Trika holds a staggering reputation in Sfax, thanks to his legendary winner in the CAF Champions League final in Rades two years ago. However, coach Gherairi …

ZURICH: The United States, Egypt and South Korea have formally joined the race to host the 2018 World Cup. FIFA received the US Soccer Federation s expression of interest ahead of the Tuesday deadline, spokesman Nicholas Maingot said. Countries have until 1200 GMT to submit their initial bids. Egypt is the only African country so …

CAIRO: Nasr midfielder Hossam Ghaly was forced to quit the Saudi club’s Sunday training after colliding with goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Khogali. Saudi newspaper Al-Eqtisadiah said that the injury is unlikely to prevent Ghali from playing in Wednesday’s Saudi Cup semi-final against Ittihad. The paper confirmed that the Egyptian midfielder will be taking part in his team’s …

CAIRO: Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland hopes to see Egyptian duo Amr Zaki and Mido forming a strong partnership in the Latics frontline. Hopefully they (Mido and Zaki) can strike up a good partnership and start scoring the goals, the England international told Sky Sports News. Zaki and Mido teamed up for the first time as …

CAIRO: Sfaxien manager Ghazi Gherairi has chosen 20 players for next weekend s African Super Cup clash with Ahly. The list includes new-signing duo Bilal Bachouche and Ousmaila Baba, who has been in magnificent form since joining from Coton Sport this season. Talented playmaker Abdul-Karim Nafti, who was linked with Ahly in 2006, is also …

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: 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 …