Black Saturday

I have not been active on my blog for sometime, ever since the revolution broke out in my country of Egypt I seem to have lost my footballing appetite. Yesterday was a disastrous day for Egyptian Sport in general and Football in particular. Thousands of Zamalek fans invaded the pitch with minutes to spare during their game against Al Afreeky (Club Africa) of Tunisia. Zamalek where on their way to getting knocked out and then all hell broke loose...

Check the video below...There are some graphic scenes

I am lost for words to describe this chaos. In my opinion this was no ordinary mob of angry fans, but I'm not going to talk about politics here as I hope this blog continues to remain 100 percent sports related (with the odd movie here and there). However here is food for thought:

In my 30 years of watching football in Egypt I have never seen such scenes not even in the most violent of Cairo derbies. In my experience Egyptian fans when they start getting angry or feel injustice proceed to do the following:

Step 1- Hurl vocal abuse towards the referee

Step 2- Start throwing objects from stones to water bottles to anything they can get their hands on onto the pitch

Step 3- Possibly engage with opposition fans by verbal abuse and or throwing stuff at them too

Step 4- Start destroying their surrounding from chairs and such and possibly start using these objects as projectiles to hurl at opposition players and fans

Step5 - The might try to invade the pith but they usually are unable to..

I have never seen fans in this country skip all these steps and proceed to step 5 and succeed with out barriers to stop them. Not only that, they reached step 5 armed with weapons and clubs. Made me feel they were ready for this. I had never seen prior to yesterday in Egypt:

1- Fans Assault their own players

2- Fans assault their club manager and staff

3- Sections of the Angry mob proceed to protect other team players and the referee??

4- Fans attack their own fans in the stadium

More food for though:

Where was the stadium security?

Why was it so easy to invade the pitch? The security gates were easily opened during the game, how?

Why did this not happen in the Ahly game vs Supersport, or the Ismailly game were the stadium was packed. Playing a Tunisian team is much more high profile I guess.

Why was there no security to check that people had nothing on them? That's ABC stadium security

Whats the whole thing bout fans coming to stadium at 10am (game was at 6pm) and they refused to leave ?

Some one should be held accountable for allowing this invasion and permitting fans to enter the stadium with such weapons. There is enough video evidence to make hundreds of arrests. It should be examined carefully. Athletes were assaulted, sportsmen whose job is to entertain were beaten up and made to fear for their life. This is UNACCEPTABLE! My condolences and sincerest apologies go out to our Tunisian brothers

There had to be some footballing factors as well. Ibrahim Hassan's comments prior to the game in response to some Tunisian fans invading the pitch with Egypt/Tunisia flags in the first leg had to insight many fans. He more or less suggested that fans should come onto the pitch in Egypt. However I've heard the recording and the accusation that this was the real cause seems shady at best, although I truly despise this guy for his attitude and ignorant comments.

The referee overturning an injury time goal could have been a real factor, however there were 3 minutes left to go, so the game was not over yet...how about you wait till it ends then go down?

Again how was it that easy to get onto the pitch...

In my opinion Zamalek will be crucified for the lack of security for this game and deservedly so. I would think 5years ban from African competition would be fair. If Zamalek felt there was a security risk then the game should have never happened. I think the impact over all will be huge on football in Egypt. Probably Ahly will not be able to continue playing in this competition. Who would want to play in Cairo stadium again and frankly who could blame them? If the police can't handle stadium security at the moment and I don't blame them, football should be stopped for the foreseeable future.

People will say clubs will go bankrupt...I say let them go bankrupt, the footballing industry is one of the most shady and corrupt organizations in the country and public resources are thrown down the drain everyday.

To Zamalek fans not involved in these appalling scenes. You should be proud of your players who stood side by side with their Tunisian brothers and tried to protect them. Some even took blows for them. Even the Hassan brothers (who I despise) deserve credit for their efforts in trying to protect Tunisian players. Also be proud of your fans who tried to protect both.

To all the thugs that caused these scenes. I call on the army and the police to hunt you down. Your faces are all over TV. You should be prosecuted and given the maximum punishment because I am ashamed to be affiliated with you in any shape or form.

To Tunis and Tunisians. The scenes I saw yesterday made me angry and disgusted so I can only imagine how it made you feel. I can apologize for all Egyptians from here to eternity and it would not be enough. Our deepest sorrow and condolences go out to the players and their families for what they had to go through. Our promise goes out to all of Tunisia that we will find those who were responsible and will bring them to justice.

Egypt and Tunisia are forever bound in revolution. You had been an inspiration to our country in it's quest for freedom. What has been bound in blood cannot be broken by the mere actions of a few who would aim to brake this feeling of solidarity.

Please forgive us Tunisia

Andy Gray & Richard Keys Laughing At Women's Football

Talking about Andy gray making sexist comments about the the female linesman in the Liverpool vs Wolves game is grabbing a lot of news in the past couple of days. He's been doing that for a long time apparently, but frankly who can blame him after watching this! Saw it while reading early doors!

Boys to Men

Yesterday it has officially happened. The Arsenal so called boys are now men. Arsenal yesterday took apart Chelsea for the first time in a very long time. Full Time score, Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1

Being an Arsenal fan I have been through a lot since starting to support them. Mind you I have not been an Arsenal fan for a long time. It's been around 6 or 7 years and considering I've supported Ahly all my life and AC Milan since the early 90's it is brand new. I have yet to see them lift a trophy as a full fledged supporter and a club member. The closest I've come was the League Cup final when our reserve team lost to Chelsea's full team 2-1 (can't recall the year) and the Champions League final against Barca. Year after year I saw us fail to reach our true potential. Year after year I saw critics pounce on the Wenger and Arsenal philosophy. We need to buy ready made stars, nurturing youth is not working, we need to spend big in the market. Wenger had said no to all of this and yesterday at last he had something to smile about.

It was not just the fact that we beat Chelsea that was pleasing, it was the way we did it. Yes Chelsea are not on form but on any given day a team that has the likes of Cech, Terry, Essein, (Lampard) and Drogba is a force to be reckoned with. Wenger was gutsy to decided to shuffle things around. Tactically we did not change how we line up but the players involved were put there for Chelsea. Wenger played it right. Obviously Cesc and Fabianski back to the starting line up was a no brainer. In my opinion if Cesc is fit he should not leave the pitch. He is this kind of player, he can conjure up something out of nothing. His presence lifts the people around him. He is still lacking form, too many miss passes by his standards but then all of a sudden the killer pass or killer run and no one remembers his short comings. Yesterday he scored a goal and made one, what else could you ask for?

Playing Walcott was a surprise for me. He was not getting enough minutes and was not on that great of a run, form wise. It seems that Arsene has had enough with Arshavin, frankly I'm starting to get annoyed too. He is not putting in enough effort and seems uninterested at parts. He is a world class player talent wise but world class players show up every game, not every other game or when they feel like it! Theo was there for a reason. To keep Ashley Cole lodged back and to frighten the some what slow Chelsea center backs. In the first half he was not great but he did keep Cole at bay. Ashley never ventured forward. The second half he got room to run behind Cole and the Chelsea defense thanks to some excellent midfield pressure (our midfield was fantastic but I'll come to that later) and he ripped them apart. First laying off unselfishly a tap in for Fabregas and then finishing off brilliantly after being put through by the Fabregas via a killer through ball.

The real surprise from me was the central defense paring of Djourou and Koscielny. I think Djourou should be a starter, hes been fantastic and gives much needed height to our defense. I'm not sure if there was something wrong with Squillaci but Wenger saw that Djourou must be better equipped to deal with physical presence of Drogba. He was right and Djourou was very solid in containing the Drogs. Koscielny was there probably to add some pace to the core because frankly I'm still not convinced by him, although I think he was very good in the last two games vs top opposition. It is against the Stokes and the Birminghams that he is still prone to errors but in his defense he is still adjusting to the league.

The center midfield paring of Song and Wilshere were phenomenal and they were one of the main reasons we won that game. For once we bossed around the midfield. They dominated Essein, Mikel and Lampard who on paper should eat them alive. Wilshere who is still a boy was a titan and Song did his new job (scored a goal) and kept true to his main role as a destroyer. They out played, out passed, out ran, out muscled and out scored Chelsea!

Overall Arsenal was better. We dictated the pace of the game and were more aggressive. Also and more importantly we won most of the duels and 2 of these lead to goals. Van Persie gives something different to the team than Chamakh. He has a softer touch so easily maintains the rhythm and seems to know the other player more. He also adds a fear factor when in the team. Chamakh has been excellent and is a truly wonderful signing but on his day I would pick RVP over him. However Chamakh will get there and having a bench that includes him, Arshavin, Diaby, Bendtner and Rosicky shows us that for once we have a very strong overall squad. There is also Vermaelen still missing due to injury and if he plays with Djourou I think we will leak less goals. I am ecstatic however not to be seeing Almunia and frankly I wish I never have to see him again. I have to mention Nasri, although he was not a goal scorer he has been our player of the season thus far and possibly the best player in the league. It is good for him to be able to share the weight of the team with Theo, Cesc and RVP. Sagna too has been excellent but for me our weakest link has to be Clichy. He is not as good going forward and defensively he seems to be playing football for the first time. He has no sense of danger and that is a huge problem for a defender, the goal Clark scored for Villa will always be proof of that.

This win however will mean nothing if we go and lose to Wigan on Wednesday. We need to be consistent and although I'm pessimistic about actually winning the league I am hopeful. I think we should win the league cup at least this season to get the "not winning trophies monkey" off our backs and off the back of the players.

Most of all I am happy for Arsene Wenger. He has had to put up with criticism from every one and to defend his players and the club philosophy day in and day out. I'm looking forward to playing Evra the clown at the Emirates and watch Theo rip him to shreds like he did Cole

Come on Arsenal!

For Love of the Game

This is a truly inspiring story by BBC's resident blogger Tim Vickery. He is an expert on South American Football.

This takes place in the Peruvian League. It is a must read piece about the true sole of football.

Winning is not Everything

Arsenal's Christmas Card...Very Funny!

To all Gooners or non Gooners

The Arsenal X-Mas Greeting!

Check it out LOL


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