Today, Al-Masry fans savagely attacked Al-Ahly fans and players after the final whistle of their league match. Today, 68 Egyptians (uptil now) have died. Today, well… Today is a truly awful day for any Egyptian.

To any Al-Masry fan that took part in these events and is responsible for any death that took place. I hope you live the rest of your life feeling guilty for what you did.

To the Interior Ministry, to all the “security” forces inside the stadium that watched as the events unfolded infront of their very eyes without even moving a muscle, I hope you are happy. I hope you’re happy knowing you could’ve stopped this massacre from happening but still decided to be an observer.

I really can’t say much more about what happened. I’m fighting back the tears. I’ll leave you with some videos to see for yourself how sad our beloved country has become.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=275153815895068&set=a.103652329711885.5178.103622369714881&type=1&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=313771715335714&set=a.191181670928053.45841.183638135015740&type=1&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=238255022924396&set=a.116805078402725.27680.116798085070091&type=1&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=264229326982702&set=a.100103806728589.5.100101186728851&type=1&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150597154447497&set=a.162046952496.115377.63843132496&type=1&theater

Bob Bradley, the new Manager

I can’t say I’m delighted because I’m pretty sure Bob knows absolutely zilch about our players and national team… but on the other hand, he is a quite decent coach, tactically adequate and will focus more on the physical fitness of our national team which we seemed to be lacking for a while now.

It’s an OK choice for me as I would’ve preferred an Egyptian to take over right now instead of a foreigner who still needs to learn about the domestic league from scratch. There’s also the problem of understanding the mentality of Egyptian players which takes years to grasp and manage.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Anyway, here’s more information concerning the contract signed by Bob Bradley and the FA; the contract lasts until 2014 he will earn 30,000 euros a month, including a 10% annual raise. The contract can be terminated immediately if the Pharaohs fail to qualify to the 2013 ACN or the 2014 WC.

So what do you think? Is Bob the right man for the job? or was someone like Talaat Youssef, Mokhtar Mokhtar, Tarek el Ashry… etc. going to be a better option?

Ahmed Hassan will take part in both the games against Sierra Leone and The Niger as a means of thanking him for his everlasting commitment throughout the years. He has been a servant for over a dozen years and it is fitting for him to take part in 2 more games with the national team. Smart move by the FA.

Ahmed Hegazy and Afroto

Players to watch:

- Ahmed Hegazy, an absolute rock at the back, quite possible the next Wael Gomaa. Plays as a regular for Ismaily for 2 seasons now and is huge considering his age, and can be a threat from set pieces as well.

Ahmed Hegazy

- Hesham Mohamed, tricky midfielder from Al-Ahly. Have personally been hearing about from his team-mates since we were kids. Supposed to be better than Shehab and others who already made the cut, but has been hampered by injuries.

- Omar Gaber, already a starter for Zamalek, this player has it all; pace, skill, technique and scored the equalizer against Brazil in the World Cup. Definitely a star in the making.

Omar Gaber vs. Brazil

- Mohamed el Niny, the Mokawoloun midfielder has already made a name for himself after scoring 2 belters against Zamalek in the league and has followed it up with a fine performance during the World Cup.

- Mohamed Salah, the star of the U-21 team. If there’s a player that can live up to the standards set by Abu Treka, Shikabala and other Egyptian stars then it’s him. Watch out for this one.

Mohamed Salah, one for the future

- Marwan Mohsen, I’ve been keeping a close eye on him after he played impressively against Al-Ahly once during the league. His build is of a natural target man, and the national team has been lacking someone like him since Mido decided becoming a part-time footballer.

Here’s the list of names for the upcoming games:

Goalies:

Mohamed Abu Gabal (ENPPI), Ali Lotfi (ENPPI)

Defenders:

Ahmed Hegazy (Ismaily), Moaz el Hennawy (Entag Harby), Mohamed AbdelFattah “Ta7a” (Al-Ahly), Sa3d el Deen Samir (Al-Ahly), Ahmed Sob7y (??), Islam Ramadan (Harrass el Hedood)

Midfielders:

Ahmed Hassan (Zamalek), Amr el Souleya <strong Ismaily), Hossam Hassan (ENPPI), Hesham Mohamed (Al-Ahly), Omar Gaber (Zamalek), Hossam Arafat (Zamalek), Mohamed el Niny (Mokawoloun), Ahmed Magdy (??).

Forwards:

Mohamed Salah (Mokawoloun), Marwan Mohsen (Petrojet), Ali Afifi (??), Mahmoud Waheed (??), Ahmed Sheroueda (??)

Any help concerning the clubs of the players who have a question mark next to their names would be much appreciated.

Anyway, that’s not the point I want to discuss, I want to give you an update concerning the national team coach. After Hassan Shehata got sacked/submitted his resignation letter, the FA have been on the hunt for an adequate manager and uptil now, the search has come to no avail.

Vingada chose China over us... FML

2 days ago, the highly coveted Nelo Vingada rejected the chance of taking over the national team. His reason? taking over the Chinese national team. Laughable yeah, but money talks and football has become a business rather than a sport. More on that Here.

Talaat Youssef

So what now? There are some names being thrown around in the media but none are glamour ones that’s for sure. The latest being Talaat Youssef, who admittedly did an impressive job with Ittihad el Shorta this year, but is a 4th placed finish worth taking over the national team job? Arguably the most stressful job in Egypt. Constantly having to prove yourself to the ruthless media (yours truly included) and getting criticized left, right and center for each substitution and each mistake the coach makes. Let’s not forget Talaat Youssef works in a stress-free club that has no supporters and we have no clue how he would react when he’s subject to the sustained pressure of the job. More on that here.

To wrap things up, the FA still have no clue who’s gonna take over and the names being linked to the job are not something to write home about. So what do you, my dear readers, think? Who is suitable enough for the job? and why?

This is not a knee jerk reaction, Shehata has given us lots of fond memories, and for that we will forever be grateful. But Shehata has also managed some awful records which will tarnish his reputation forever.

His greed and selfishness have set up his downfall. If he had any tact he would’ve stepped down after the 2010 African Cup of Nations success. He should’ve known when to stop, he should’ve known that enough is enough.

But no, against the voice of reason, he decided to push on. It’s pretty obvious he went on for the money, because let’s face it, he won’t find that 100,000 pounds a month deal anywhere else. But sometimes money isn’t everything Shehata, and today you’ve understood why.

Today, the 5th of June, Shehata has led Egypt **for the very first time** OUT of the African Cup of Nations. Today, Shehata has broken Egypt’s proud and withstanding record. Thank you Shehata.

Thank you for the Ivory Coast match back in the 2006 qualifiers, where you played 8 matches preparing for it using a 4-4-2 formation and yet you fielded an untested 3-5-2 formation.

Thank you for the USA match, where you somehow managed to blow any chance of progressing in the Confederations tournament, and lost 3-0, that’s right THREE NIL against USA (who had already lost 2 games and thought they had no chance in hell to qualify), when a 2-0 loss would’ve guided you through to the next round.

Thank you for the Zambia match in Cairo, where you had a FULL squad and still only managed a 1-1 draw.

Thank you for the Algeria match in Annaba, where you played a perfect first half without conceding one shot on goal, and yet you managed to lose 3-1 in the end, what kind of god-awful halftime team talk was that?

Thank you for the Algeria match in Sudan, where you somehow managed to lose to a demoralized team that you’d just beaten 4 days prior to it. A match which ended the careers of Mohamed Barakat (retirement) and Mohamed AbuTreka (mentally).

Thank you for the Sierra Leone, Niger, South Africa (2) matches, where you led the 3 time African champions to 2 losses and 2 draws, scoring 1 goal in the process and conceding thrice as much.

Yes Shehata you can look back at your managerial career and think that you did a pretty good job, but the aforementioned matches will always be a permanent stain to your career.

May this be a lesson to anyone who doesn’t know when to stop.

Treka misses out due to injury

Well, since we have no chance whatsoever of qualifying top of the group now, not everybody is eagerly awaiting this clash. The focus and the spotlights have been shifted to the Egyptian Premier League instead as this season Zamalek and Al-Ahly are tied at the top on 46 points apiece with Ismaily closely following in third place with 42 points.

Needless to say we desperately need to win this match to stand any chance of finishing second in the group and qualifying to the AFCON as a one of the 2 second bests in the 12 groups. Another thing worth mentioning is that this match is Hassan Shehata’s last chance to redeem himself or he will be slaughtered by the media who already cannot stand him for taking Mubarak’s side during the revolution.

Notable Inclusions:

Doudy el-Gabbas

Doudy el-Gabbas: His fine form for his club Lierse in Belgium has earned him a surprise call-up for the crucial clash.

Ahmed Hassan: The irrepressible captain is back and boy do we miss him. The life and soul of the Egyptian team now has the chance to add to his near-record 175 caps. Well Done!

Abdullah el Saeed: Finally getting the call-up he deserves. Arguably Egypt’s finest playmaker.

Hany Saeed (Al-Masry): This is not the same Hany Saeed of the past decade, it’s a new one bearing the same name. Solid Center back and has been impressive for Al-Masry this season.

Amr el-Souleya: Taken lots of bashing on here for the past 3534 times he’s been picked and still offered nothing to prove that he’s earned his call-up (aside from his awful shooting).

Notable exclusions:

Hossam Ashour: !

Walid Solaiman: Another casualty of Shehata’s short sightedness.

The 23-man squad for the game:

Goalkeepers:

Essam el Hadary (El Merrikh, Sudan), Abdelwahed el Sayed (Zamalek), Ahmed el-Shenawy (Al-Masry)

Defenders:

Wael Gomaa, Ahmed Fathy, Sayed Moawad (Al-Ahly), Mahmoud Fathallah (Zamalek), Mohamed Naguib (Ittihad el Shorta), Ahmed Samir Farag (Ismaily), Hany Saeed (Al-Masry), Ahmed el Muhammadi (Sunderland, England)

Midfielders:

Hossam Ghaly (Al-Ahly), Ibrahim Salah, Shikabala (Zamalek), Hosni Abdrabo, Amr el-Souleya, Abdullah el Saeed (Ismaily)

Forwards:

Ahmed Abdelzaher (ENPPI), Ahmed Ali (Al-Hilal, KSA) Mohamed Nagy “Gedo” (Al-Ahly), Mohamed Zidan (Dortmund, Germany), Doudy el-Gabbas (Lierse, Belgium)

The signs were there and it was only a matter of time for something like that to happen, the government knows that the people have the power over the police now and the cops can’t do anything about it, so why insist on playing the football league and risk any disasters happening?

For those who didn’t hear the news, hundreds (and some claim thousands) of Al-Masry and Al-Ahly fans clashed hours before their game scheduled on Friday resulting in dozens of injuries between them. Al-Ahly fans were just coming out of the railway station when they were greeted with thousands of Al-Masry fans cursing them and (as expected) things didn’t stop there, they escalated and soon curses were replaced with knives and flares.

Nothing’s concrete yet, but it’s rumored that Al-Ahly fans have destroyed the Port-Said railway station and have been ordered to head back to Cairo to prevent a massacre from happening. There are also rumors that the game will get canceled out of fear for the safety of the Al-Ahly fans in the stadium.

One last note to the authorities in Egypt, if you think that’s something, wait till Al-Ahly visit Ismailia later on in the season. Good luck with that, you’ll need it.

More to follow …

The (hideous) Egyptian FA Logo

I have no clue how they think they’ll control the crowd during the league games. If Saturday wasn’t enough of a hint for them then god knows when they’ll realize there’s no chance the league could commence without another disaster taking place.

I seriously hope that there are security measures in place for controlling the upcoming games for the sake of everyone going to watch the games from the stands. How in the world is a game between Al-Ahly and Al-Ismaily going to pass by without any problems with the current circumstances? I can foresee a massacre if both sets of fans invade the pitch during the game.

Who's gonna stop this avalanche?

More to follow …

Goodbye Football

Earlier during the game, the true Zamalek fans provided us with some spectacular banners showing support for our Tunisian brothers and thanking them for sparking the 25th of January Revolution. But all this turned out to be in vain after the disgrace that followed.

Who is responsible for this? Why in the world would anyone want to do this in the name of their country? Why isn’t there anything being done to the these thugs who are doing their best to ruin our country? Where is the army? When are they gonna draw the line? When are they gonna take a stand?

It was inevitable that something like this was going to happen with the army not being ruthless enough with the criminals. The question now is, are they going to act before it’s too late? or are they going to grab a seat and watch from the sidelines with us?

The Incident can be seen here

One last point, how, no, sorry, but the following sentence needs to be screamed out loud, HOW IN THE WORLD IS THIS MORON STILL NOT BANNED FROM ANYTHING SPORTS RELATED YET? OR EVEN MEDIA RELATED? OR ANY POSITION THAT REQUIRES A FULLY FUNCTIONAL BRAIN?

The idiot behind all this can be listened to here

Ibrahim Hassan, I can’t remember ever hating someone with a passion. Congratulations, you have made it. I hope you get banned/dismissed/sacked/humiliated for this.

Apology by the Egyptian Football Federation to Tunisia: Here.

Egyptian Prime Minister’s views: Here.

Photos of the disgraceful Event: Here.

Apologies to our Tunisian brothers once again. We hope this does not make you forget how much we value you and appreciate your influence on the 25th of January Revolution.

Shikabala starts in place of Abu Treka!

Bold move, I respect it, but I expect it to be used as a beating stick if we don’t get a good result out of this game. Shikabala is definitely the in-form playmaker in Egypt right now and he rightly gets the nod over Treka.

Ghaly starts as a sweeper as expected after having some pretty decent games with Al-Ahly in that position. Elmo gets the nod on the right after his impressive performances with Sunderland in the English Premier League. Moawad is the most experienced left back and starts instead of Ahmed Samir Farag on the left.

In other depressing news, Shehata’s god son Mohammed Shawky starts after having one average game with Al-Ahly in the African Champions League. So Ashour who has been consistently playing for Al-Ahly and doing a superb job doesn’t earn a call up yet an old, off-form and distinctly average (I’m trying to jinx it here) actually STARTS the game.

Alongside him in midfield are the energetic duo Fathy and Hosni Abdrabo.

Shikabala is the playmaker while the human bulldozer el Sayed Hamdi starts up front as the lone striker (Target man). Zidan who has been suffering from loads of injuries lately makes the bench.

Here is the starting XI’s formation (3-5-2) for the crucial qualifier:

—Hadary—-
—-Ghaly—-
–Gomaa—Fathallah–
-Elmo——–Moawad-
—Shawky—Fathy—
—-Hosni———
——-Shikabala—
—-el Sayed——