Mido is back?

Mido has always been the center of controversy when it comes to Egyptian football had joined West Ham in January for a reported wage of only 1,000 English Pounds per week. 4,000 pounds a month for any Egyptian would be considered a very good salary. Not for footballers though. His salary seems insanely low even for Egyptians practicing their trade locally. So how come he is getting payed that low?

Looking back at his history may provide us with a more clear view. Mido left Egypt at the tender age of 16 to join Belgian side Gent. For the next 10 years he has been all over Europe joining a total of 10 clubs from his glory days at Ajax till his forgettable Middlesborough spell. Frankly the kid does not need the money anymore. Recently he has been injury prone due to a very noticeable increase in his weight. This and his attitude has caused him problems with many mangers most notably Egypt's Hassan Shehata who has not called up Mido for the last 2 Nations Cup. He has been dubbed lazy and a trouble maker, well why would you put any effort if you owned a Ferrari at 18 yrs of age. In his defense though I have always though that the lad gave 110% percent when it came to representing his country.

The huge pay cut he took to play again in the Premier League is not because he was unwanted or that he was pimping himself in someway. I think it is a great positive step on his part and it shows that at 26 years of age Mido has matured enough to realize that it is not just about the money. Mido wants to play football again at the highest level, he wants to leave some sort of legacy when it comes to football. He has been around for ages but he is only 26 and has a minimum of a good 6 years of football in him. I'm not sure what the trigger was (maybe his exclusion from the Egyptian team) but it seems Mido has taken a long hard look at himself and seen what his former teams mates have achieved (Zlatan at Barcelona and Drogba at Chelsea) while he took the role of club hopper. Mido seems to be back.

Shame on some footballers who have made fun of his wage cut mainly the likes of Cashly (Ashly) Cole who by the way sold his boyhood club for a few extra quid. Well it was not just a few extra quid, but this kind of attitude was always beyond me. When your are getting payed around 50,000 quid a week is it worth changing settings, causing trouble and leaving friends behind for lets say 80,000 a week? They are both insane amounts of money but I feel other criteria should come in play. The main reason for switching clubs in my option would be to win trophies. Well money is a target early on but later it just rubs me the wrong the way. Mido should be commended on his pioneering action and players like Cashly are afraid others may do it and player like him would only be paid the pathetic sum of 30,000 or 50,000 quid.

Say what you like about Mido but this is a step in the right direction in the hope that he may one day regain his stature in Egypt and in Europe. Good luck to him

When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going

Yesterday saw Egypt take on Rwanda in a must win game for Egypt if they would have any chance of qualifying for next years' World Cup. As the pole here suggested no one really knew what to expect from this game. Egypt are well renowned for buckling away from home and they were up against a team that hasn't lost a game at home for two years, until yesterday that is.

It is common knowledge to people who know me that I'm not a fan of Hassan Shehata, I am a fan of Egypt however and there is a huge distinction. I may not agree with his tactical choices and selection but by god if he takes us to the World Cup I'll be waving a flag and calling his name. Yesterday we got some hope back by beating Rwanda 1-0 and we are joint top of our qualification group with Algeria pending their game tonight versus Zambia, pressure is on them now. The game was a confusing and boring affair with neither team really threatening but what one could tell Egypt wanted it more. The contest was settled by Egyptian Captain Ahmed Hassan midway through the second half after a goal mouth scramble. The Eagle was the best player on the field although he seemed to run out of gas completely in the second half, that tells you much about his team mates. Egypt were missing alot of key players, alot of offensive options to be exact. Zaki, Meteb and AbuTrieka were all missing due to injury. Mido was unfit and Zidan had personal issues with Shehata. As a result Egypt had to field the 5th, 6th and 7th choice strikers. Honestly they are not up to par but hats off to them for giving it a go in the game, especially Dodi El Gabbas who put in a real fighting effort.

The Egyptian team overall was very poor except for the back three of Hany Said, Gomaa and Ocka. However they were never really tested. Hadary was average and made two decent saves although he messed up a back pass and looked very weak in handling crosses. It would do us good to start grooming a replacement. The midfield was a joke. Shawky was in a different planet and the lack of first team football must be affecting him while Abd Rabo was a ghost of his former self and frankly should not start for Egypt anymore. Him playing in a very weak league (Emirates League) has definitely contributed to his poor form. It would do us better to play Fathi in midfield as the poor lad can't cross a ball to save his life and playing him in the right wing back position makes him and us look foolish. Mohamady could be played there instead although he is known for his defensive frailties. There would be no better time to call up Hossam Ashour to fill this void in midfield. The boy puts his head down and plays football and has been doing that consistently for the past 4 or so years. Ghaly is another option although I'm not sure about him. The only breath of fresh air for Egypt was Barakat. He has proved once again that he is a player for the big occasions and having him in the squad as a starter or a sub will always add an exciting dimension to the team going forward. Negatives aside, it was a good win away from home, a win which we needed and that we got even though we were missing alot of key players. For once we showed that we are tough enough to play poorly and get the three points. Hopefully this can be a foundation to build on the remaining two games although winning them might still not be enough due to goal difference. Why were we wasting time against a hopeless Rwanda towards the end? Didn't the coach and players know that one more goal might have been just what the doctor ordered? I hope we don't live to regret this.

The best thing in the game was the referee, albeit a few mistakes here and there, but the worse was definitely ART commentator Essam Abdo (apologies if that's not his name). This guy talked nonsense through out the game it was frankly distracting. At one point he suggested that 17,000 people from the London and the whole of England proceeded to Birmingham to watch the game? Really? is this guy for real? The only place in the UK were you can watch this bloody game is Birmingham of all places! He seems to forget that one underground station from Oxford street he can go about and watch possibly El Gouna take on Mansheyet Nasser in Edgewar Road!!! He wasn't done there he was almost crying like a baby and calling the referee unfair cause of four added minutes of injury time, grow up will you Mr. Abdo, we are playing Rwanda and not Brazil. What really bugged me though was how he was portraying the game in a religious context. He kept insisting that please god since we were fasting and since this was Ramadan we must win and comments like that throughout the game. Mr. Abdo seems to forget that half the team from Rwanda were Muslims too, and that football was a sport and has nothing to do with religious beliefs. And like a famous sports writer in EL Masry EL Yome once said that if praying and fasting were the criteria for winning games and not skill then the Taliban would win the World Cup and dominate the Olympics!!!!

Cote D'Ivoire officially qualified yesterday after a 5-0 mauling of Burkina Faso. Cameroon found itself in a tough spot and beat group leaders Gabon away 2-0. This is the toughness we were always lacking and possibly might have found in Rwanda of all places. However don't be surprised if we lose it once again in Zambia.

You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks!

Well I was shocked today to find out that the infamous Henri Michel has returned to coach Zamalek. Him again why?

Zamalek fired Swiss coach Michel Decastel after a string of bad results at the start of the Egyptian Premier League with 1 win in 3 league games. For starters I think it's weird firing a coach after just three games , but then again this is Egypt and this is Zamalek, the kings of instant gratification. Decastel had managed to finish the previous season on a high with some good performances, but the addition of several new players to the team this season means he should be given sufficient time for the new players to gel, not happening. Decastel was also blessed with the acquisition of two of Egyptian football's arch enemies and worst role models. Zaki and Mido. The duo are unprofessional and hate each others guts following incidents in CAN 2006 in Egypt and their bust up playing for Egypt against Zambia while in Wigan together last season. Their presence alone would disrupt any changing room atmosphere. One would think that Decastel would be given time given these circumstances, but the team the media in Egypt nominated to be an instant hit couldn't wait and Decastel was gone. In all fairness however this approach is not a trait portrayed only by Zamalek, it's like a pandemic in all Egyptian clubs. After only three weeks of the championship Ismaily, Masry, Ittihad along with Zamalek have all sacked their coaches, OH and Enppi too.

Why then would Zamalek opt for Michel? Well there is no doubt with regards to his ability. He is a charismatic coach with a well found knowledge of the beautiful game. He also is the only Zamalek coach to come close to beating a full strength Ahly side lead by the general, Manuel Jose, losing the Egyptian cup final 4-3 after extra time in arguably one of the most exciting Egyptian football encounters this decade. Michel comes with a catch though. Zamalek are rehiring him. This man was never sacked by Zamalek the first time mind you. This is a man who planned a pre-season camp with the club, instructed the administration on which players to buy, even released some of the clubs dedicated old guard and then out of the blue decided to quit the club mid camp and head over to coaching Morocco (who rumor has it was willing to pay more) leaving Zamalek scrambling for a last second replacement! These actions speak louder than any words possibly can about the "man" Zamalek chose for the job and regardless of his success, don't be surprised if he pulls something similar again. Zamalek deserve better....or maybe they don't:)

10 Things I Hate About It!

Well as the new season of the Egyptian League is set to start on Thursday the 6th of August I though I'd make a list of the Top Ten things we are all sure to see throughout next season:

1- Synchronized Diving

2- Pitches that look like they just survived World War II

3- Medhat Shalaby trying to come up with another quote to top "Beebo we Besheer"

4- Men in Tights

5- Colourful Training Suites

6- Blind Referees

7- Even Blinder Linesmen

8- Mothers, Fathers, Wives of Coaches, Players, Referees and Administrators insulted for no good reason

9- Zaki, Mido and Shikabala fighting to take a Penalty

10- Farouk Gaafar

Feel free to add some more:)