“Are you Al-Ahly or Zamalek?”
If there’s a question that repeats itself while in Egypt is which club do you support out of the two Cairo based mega-sides. The most common answer will be “Al-Ahly”.
It’s easy; the Al-Ahly club is the most crowned sports organisation in Egypt, Africa and the Arab world. Despite the gap in titles from their city rivals, the rivalry between the ‘people’s club’ to the ‘Whites’, the Zamalekawys, is bitter, fierce and intense as it gets. It called Clasico Al-Arab, or in Arabic - Mubarat al-Kimah. The Cairo Derby.
Due to security reasons, since 2012 there are no fans in Egyptian club football matches. What used to be an alive and kicking scene, turned into a stage that reminds a lower-league atmosphere, where you can hear the players and coaches shout at each other.
On Thursday night, the Cairo Derby got a chance to relive a bite of the atmosphere it had in the past.
Al-Ahly and Zamalek fans gathered in the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, for the Egyptian Super Cup match. The competition which started in 2001, is taking place at the Emirates since the middle of the past decade. It came as a financial solution for the clubs who couldn’t host fans in home soil and also an opportunity for them to attract new fans in the Gulf, as well for the Emirati television networks to transmit a high caliber Arab football event.
While Al-Ahly won the cup 11 times since its inauguration, Zamalek won it only on three occasions. Until that night in Abu Dhabi.
The stadium was full, and the match kicked off in style with high pressure from Al-Ahly side on the Zamalek goal, with chances flowing in for both teams. In the first 12 minutes, Al-Ahly could have been up 2-0, but Mohamed Abu Gabal and the offside rule were there to hold the scoreboard tied.
While most of the match included songs and chants at each other, on the 74th minute the two sets of fans, literally the whole stadium, sang together in memory of the 74 victims of the Port Said disaster. No matter the ‘bad blood’ between the fans, Egyptian football culture can live outside the country as well.
After an exciting yet goalless draw in 90 minutes, the two teams went straight to penalties as in the Egyptian Super Cup there is no extra time. Then the drama tickled on. Al-Ahly stroke first, while Zamalek stayed in touch until Moroccan star Achraf Bencharki missed for the White Knights.
End of story? Not at all, Mohamed Hany of Al-Ahly missed his shot and gave the White Knights their opportunity to come back, which they took. Tarek Hamed and Mahmoud Alaa scored their shots, and that signaled for the Whites to start celebrating their fourth Egyptian Super Cup and a precious victory over their arch-rivals.
Al-Ahly could be disappointed, but not for long. On Monday, the two are meeting in the Cairo International Stadium for a league derby. This time, with no fans and atmosphere such as they enjoyed in Abu Dhabi.
PROBLEMS IN JERUSALEM
Palestinian champions Hilal Al-Quds’ president, Dr Abu Aseb, has left the club, in an announcement made last week. The club is participating in the West Bank Premier League and the AFC Cup, and the players are yet to receive their previous monthly salaries.
“We will go and play against Al-Jaish (Syria) in Amman, and after it, we will see”, said one of the club’s notable players. “We don’t want to go to the association, or later to FIFA, as we love this organization, but if we have no choice, we will have to act”, he added.