Brave Heart Comes to Cairo

The Day Egypt Changed

Coming on the heals of a dominating league campaign, the final whistle that formalized Zamalek's mauling of Ahly in the Cup final, marked the point hope for real change might finally start to come to Egypt.   

Ahly is the core symbol of Egypt's corrupt soul, unshakable through all of the tumult of the country's modern history by surviving, co-opting and bribing its way to one title after the other. That pompous, deceitful and negative "Ahly is Egypt" has been crushed.  

In its place is an electric, creative and exciting Zamalek, full of all the hope and promise that has been so long repressed by Ahly and its official cohorts, just as such positive energy has been ever-tyrannized in Egyptian society at large. 

Zamalek's victory is a victory for a new, better and brighter Egypt.

A victory for Egypt

    

      

Egypt Cup Stadium Update

BREAKING NEWS

Road 82, Maadi, Associated Bress

Ending weeks of searching for a suitable site to host the 2015 Egyptian Cup semi-final and final matches, the Egyptian Football Federation (Itihad El Zift) today announced that the Maadi Canal School has been selected for the concluding stages of Egypt's oldest football tournament. Maadi Canal School -- which promotes itself as "Canal Scools - Canal Schools best language schools in Egypt" -- boasts a newly laid dirt field off Road 82 in the Cairo suburb of Maadi.

The semi-finals pit Ahly against Petrojet on September 16 and Zamalek versus Smouha on September 17. The Cup final will be played on September 21. All match dates are subject to coordination with the pending Parliamentary election cycle, and Ahly receiving satisfactory assurances that they will not be further humiliated following their atrocious League campaign. 

Ahly vs. Zamalek

Oh what a difference a finger makes

Ahly, Zamalek and Everything That is Wrong with Egypt

A few years ago, Ahly fans starting taking signs to the stadium -- back when spectators were actually allowed to attend matches -- professing that "Ahly is Egypt". This slogan was added to the even more ambitious declaration of Ahly as the global "Club of the Century". But if batal el qarn is a laughable proclamation, in many ways Ahly indeed is Egypt. 

Ahly is an Egypt that is corrupt, arrogant and classless. It is an Egypt that thrives on domestic trickery, and that is an utter failure when tested outside its controlled local and regional environment. It is an Egypt that churns out tacky and shallow illusions of grandeur. It is an Egypt that is not just. Ahly is an Egypt of quantity and no quality.

Ahly, Zamalek, Boredom

A faintly familiar game played in Gouna

Unsatisfied with domineering political life, centralizing the economy and  straight jacketing religious and social norms, the vampires have sunk their teeth deeper into one of the last bastions of free expression in Egypt, the rivalry between Zamalek and Ahly. The African Champions League match-up between the two (no local competition face offs being any longer possible, thanks to the idiotic decision to cancel the league and cup) was played in circumstances that can be charitably described as intentionally horrendous. Unpaid players who have not faced a competitive match in months were commandeered to run around in broiling temperatures at a wind swept field on the Red Sea in the middle of the fasting month of Ramadan. 

The game itself was a predictably terrible stalemate, lacking in every facet. The only people leaving happy were the authorities congratulating themselves for the wondrous achievement of staging a football match for ninety minutes, complete with twenty-two players in neat uniforms and even some fans with waving flags who braved the uncertainty of whether they would be allowed to attend.

Another victory for dulling unity, another loss for Egypt. 

SHAME ON EGYPT

From a symbol of hope and joy...

Red Card: Zamalek is too big for you

Off you go

It started off as a bad joke back in 2011 when the Muslim Brotherhood suggested it would field a sporting club to bring its pious practices to national sporting competition. Apparently, they were not kidding, but instead of taking on Zamalek and Ahly, they have decided to simply take them over. The bearded ones have announced that they will contest in Zamalek's upcoming board elections, risking putting Egypt's greatest club at the mercy of political zealots. 

Morsi and company have tested the country's patience with a year's worth of utter incompetence, with everything from polarizing politics and yo-yo economic declarations to televising live their spy fiction diplomacy, making stone age cultural pronouncements and appointing terrorists as governors in the country's key tourist zones. They have managed to float by thanks to an equally, if not even more, incompetent opposition, which has conspired with the Brotherhood to destroy any semblance of a functioning state. 

Chelsea - Ahly, Zamalek in Champions League!

El Nino fearing the mighty challenge

It is a fantastic match-up at last for Egyptian football, both Ahly and Zamalek taking on Chelsea in the Champions League!  Lampard, Terry, Torres facing off against Shika and friends at the historic Stamford Bridge.  Awesome!

Napoli Rumor Heats Up!!!

Dai Shika!  Dai Napoli!

FilGoal | اخبار |الزمالك يوافق على إعارة شيكابالا لنابولي مقابل 13,5 مليون جنيه

A Silver Lining: Morsi and Zamalek

It is understood that Presidential-elect Mohamed Morsi (it is easier to write Presidential-elect, than it is President...) is a Zamalek fan, which at least means he is a man who comprehends football.    

Shika to Napoli

No Salafi influence here

The rumour has been around for a couple of years about the transfer of Egypt’s biggest talent for generations, Shikabala, to SSC Napoli, only to be dismissed as una bufala totale. The story has resurfaced of late, however, bringing back the hope of watching Shika dance around defenders at Stadio San Paolo.

As hard as it will be for Zamalek – the club of il fan wal handasa, and the only team outside of Europe or Latin America that can inspire the creativity of a Shikabala – to lose this genius, the pathetic state of affairs of Egyptian football (get ready for A.C. Brotherhood) and Egypt more generally, make it unforgivable to have these skills atrophy any longer. Shikabala is 26 years old, at the late end of his career prime. He will be out of contract at the end of the month, and whether or not Zamalek is able to first sign him to earn higher transfer fees, it is time to let this eagle fly. 

Young Africans v Zamalek - Football (and Normality?) Returns at Last!

Egypt for too long has been in in a state of fear, mourning and pessimism.  The causes of this are numerous, ranging from the depressed economy to inflated revolutionary expectations to ominous signs of further curtailments of already meager individual rights to the worrisome stream of criminal activity.  There are some -- both of the "revolutionary" and "counter-revolutionary" variety -- who see value in chaos, instability and a general lack of normalcy.  For the rest of us, however, we want to live our lives, and life for the tens of millions of us means having our football back.

The World Cup Mission and the Revolution

Egypt has qualified to participate in just one World Cup soccer tournament since 1934.  This, notwithstanding the country having a highly talented player pool, one of the oldest soccer federations, largest populations  and most passionate fan bases on the continent.  The reasons for this failure are educational in observing the ebbs and flows of events in Egypt since last January. 

Awaiting greatness 

Like the mass demonstrations of Tahrir, there is real energy, passion and potential in Egyptian football that can make an impact, but there is also chronically haphazard organization, unstable leadership and a tendency to allow emotions to overtake performance holding things back.  There is always a "what-if" feeling about how some young star or group of players could have been great, but for being ill-nurtured by the surrounding chaos.  The forty day league stoppages to allow a group of junior players to prepare to play a friendly match, ad-hoc club decisions to pull out of tournaments, nutty decisions to grant “exclusive” licenses to televise matches to half a dozen stations, and players bowing in prayer after scoring goals on handballs or breaking down into uncontrollable bouts of tears after an adverse decision or insult from the even more emotional crowd, have all contributed to a record of underachievement. 

Egypt's Team

Of the People.  By the People.  For the People.

Best Fans in the World

Up yours Ahly

Game Over

The day of reckoning awaits

Neither Ahly's corrupt officiating, Ahly's budgets tainted with corrupted funds, Ahly's corrupted media, Ahly's tail-between-the-legs pleas to cancel the league, nor any other human force in Tahrir, Tanta or Tizi Ouzo will stop Zamalek's rightful ascension to victory.

Fawda

Madness

When a country is unable to host and secure a preliminary round soccer match, it is not ready to put at stake its entire political future.  That might seem trite and simplistic, but it is the crude reality.

With all due respect to the organization of the protests in January, Egypt is not prepared politically, socially or otherwise for democratic elections to decide its fate.  The country has no culture of acceptance of winning and losing, a fatal flaw in any democratic environment, but especially one where there are no institutional checks and balances to measure the outcome.  Yes, there was a peaceful voting process for the referendum (nb:  not really sure why we had that vote, given many other changes to the constitution were subsequently passed by decree), but there the proscribed outcome was overwhelmingly approved, and the stakes were transient.