CAIRO: Ahly filed an official request to the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to provide more protection to their players in domestic competitions. The Egyptian champions official site stated that the club filed a complaint to the FA, claiming that Ahly players are suffering from intentional aggression during league games. The African champions are claiming that …

CAIRO: Ahmed Hossam Mido revealed he was annoyed by the opponent fans’ abuse aimed at him during Middlesbrough s 2-2 Premiership draw with Newcastle on Sunday. The Boro striker had been subjected to a torrent of sick taunts shortly before his 29th minute equalizer to Charles N Zogbia s early strike. I m used to …

CAIRO: Middlesbrough coach Gareth Southgate defended Ahmed Hossam ‘Mido’ as he gestured to Newcastle fans to shut up after being subjected to terrorist chants. The Egyptian international was taunted Mido, he’s got a bomb you know by the away fans during the 2-2 draw on Sunday and his gestures prompted a yellow card by the …

Manuel Jose does not believe that Ahly are facing a crisis after his side struggled to claim a 3-2 home win over Ghazl Mahalla, continuing a succession of poor displays for the Cairo giants. Our recent below-par form is due to the over-confident approach the players had after Ahly won the Egyptian Cup and the …

Zamalek s 2007 football league campaign kicked off with a bang. They lost their opening match. They lost their coach, who unexpectedly resigned, and they lost their captain to a chorus of spectator boos that forced him to announce his retirement. Zamalek are trying to win their first piece of silverware in three years. The …

African champions Egypt settled for a goalless draw with Ivory Coast at Sebastien Charlety stadium in Paris in an African Cup of Nations qualifiers warm-up on Wednesday. The five-time African champions played against Ivory Coast twice during the 2006 Cup of Nations. Egypt defeated the Elephants 3-1 in the first round before beating them again …

CAIRO: Egyptian Football Association (EFA) Vice President Ahmed Shobeir revealed that an official proposal has been sent to the English FA in order to arrange a friendly game between the two nations. We proposed a friendly against England and we are waiting for their response, Shobeir told FilGoal.com on Wednesday. The English FA are free …

Ankaragucu defender Ibrahim Saied revealed that he is having a tough time at his new club and that he could be forced into announcing an early retirement. The 27-year old stopper joined the Turkish side this summer from Rizespor, but he seems to be having problems adapting to his new club despite enjoying a fine …

Although he is back after four months out with an injury, Zamalek’s keeper Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed won’t be included in the Whites’ squad when they take on Baladeya next week. The 29-year-old keeper produced a brilliant performance in his first training session with the team on Monday night, but he is still not fit enough to …

ABIDJAN: ASEC of Ivory Coast continued an African Champions League revival on Sunday with a crucial 2-0 win over Esperance of Tunisia that keeps alive hopes of reaching the semi-finals. A comfortable victory for the 1998 African champions followed an equally vital win over Al-Hilal of Sudan at Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in the Ivorian commercial …

OMDURMAN: Al-Hilal of Sudan crushed African Champions League title holders Al-Ahly of Egypt 3-0 on Sunday to go top of Group B with one round left. Goals by Dario Khan and Hassan Eshag within 10 minutes during the second half set Hilal up for glory before a capacity 35,000 crowd and Ezeh Ndubuisi completed the …

CAIRO: Ahli winger Mohamed Barakat has been excluded from the 20-man squad announced by Egypt Manager Hassan Shehata for the friendly match against Ivory Coast on August 22. The versatile midfielder has been a key figure in Egypt s 2006 African Nation s Cup triumph, but he has no place in the Egypt roster for …

SOUSSE: Etoile Sahel of Tunisia clinched top spot in Group A of the African Champions League despite being held 0-0 by FAR Rabat of Morocco Saturday. The draw lifted the club from the Mediterranean resort to 11 points, four more than second-placed Al-Ittihad of Libya with one series of mini-league fixtures left. Former title holders …

Egypt thrashed Chile 41-21 in the Handball World s Junior Championship on Tuesday to stay on top of Group B. The Pharaohs showed no mercy for their opponents as they went to the dressing room with a huge 23-6 lead. The Egypt coach rested his key players in the second half to end the game …

CAIRO: Zamalek assistant coach Moatamed Gamal said that he is unfazed despite the team s opening day 1-0 home defeat against Ismaili in the Egyptian league on Monday. We are not worried because we have confidence in our players abilities, I believe we played a fine game, but there were some players making their debuts …

MIDDLESBROUGH: Middlesbrough agreed to a transfer fee for Ahmed Mido on Tuesday and hope to complete the signing of the Tottenham striker within two days. The 24-year-old Egypt forward will complete his move if he passes a medical and secures a work permit to play in Britain. The clubs did not disclose the transfer fee, …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has set a one-week deadline for Zamalek in order to resolve their row with Tunisian side Sfaxien over the transfer of defender Wissem El-Abdi. Zamalek claim that they have paid the amount owed that enables them to keep the Tunisian defender on a permanent basis, whilst Sfaxien insists that …

ISTANBUL: An Israeli soccer player accused an Egyptian opponent of deliberately fouling him after a 90th-minute tackle led to a brawl and the suspension of a Turkish league match. Trabzonspor defender Ayman Mohamed Abdelaziz fouled Sivasspor striker Pini Felix Balili during Sunday s match, leaving the Israeli player lying on the field in pain for …

CAIRO: Ismaili striker Mohamed Mohsen Abou Greisha has been banned for 10 days and fined LE 10,000 by the club due to undisciplined behavior towards his coach Fawzi Gamal. The club s marksman has widely protested against his absence from the game seeing that the team needed a striker and that he might have changed …

CAIRO: Zamalek wizard Mahmoud “Shikabala Abdul-Razek is ready for his side’s season opener against Ismaili on Monday, while Jordanian full-back Khaled Saad will be on the bench. Shikabala will play a pivotal role behind striking duo Gamal Hamza and Abdul-Halim Ali in Ruud Krol’s debut after taking over as Zamalek manager, FilGoal.com has learnt. New …

CAIRO: Al Ahly goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadari has been included in his side s squad for the Egyptian Super Cup game against Ismaili on Thursday after recovering from a face bone fracture. The Egypt international keeper sustained the injury during Al Ahly s 3-0 home win over Esperance in the CAF Champions League last month. However, …

CAIRO: Sheffield United midfielder Ahmed Fathi denied on Wednesday Zamalek s claim that he has agreed a four-year deal with the Cairo giants. Zamalek spokesman Khaled Gabr told FilGoal.com that the Egypt international will fly to Egypt on Thursday to pen the contract. However, Fathi has insisted that there were no negotiations with Zamalek and …

CAIRO: Former Zamalek Coach Ruud Krol is tipped to return to the Cairo giants to replace departed Frenchman Henri Michel, FilGoal.com learned on Monday. The Dutch manager has agreed in principle to take over at Zamalek after receiving a phone call from the club s chairman Mamdouh Abbas. Negotiations are ongoing between Krol and Abbas …

CAIRO: After completing an inspection of 50 of the continent’s 53 nations, FIFA announced that only 18 countries have safe stadiums to host World Cup qualifiers. The world soccer governing body inspection delegation did not visit Kenya, Somalia and World Cup hosts South Africa. These inspections come after FIFA expressed their worries about the safety …

CAIRO: At 1 am the heat in the air is still palpable. Since dusk, the parking lot of Ain Shams University has been slowly filling; not with cars but with young boys. Their mission: football. Proper attire is mandatory; shirts of the greats are preferred. David Beckham, Michael Ballack, and Ronaldinho have all shown up …

Frenchman Henri Michel made a surprise announcement on Sunday morning stating that he is quitting his job as Zamalek’s coach, the Egyptian club said. Michel, who signed a two year contract extension with the Cairo based club in April, made the announcement to his players in the morning session of training in France where the …

JOHANNESBURG: Etoile Sahel of Tunisia became the first club to qualify for the African Champions League semi-finals as they seek the only continental trophy to elude them. Even stone-throwing supporters of hosts Jeunesse Sportive Kabylie of Algeria, who delayed play for 10 minutes, could not prevent the Tunisian team winning 2-0 which assured them of …