Mohamed Salah and Al-Nenni of Basel started the Swiss league campaign with a 3-1 over Aarau at home. Both Salah and Al-Nenni started the game and picked up where they left last season as they played a magnificent game with Salah notching his first goal of the season. Salah scored his goal in the 25th minute after slamming the ball into the back of the net with a first time shot after a cross from the left hand side. The brilliant finish from Salah opened up the game as Basel took control from that moment on and added another two goals before conceding late in the game. Salah showed the form that made him one of the hottest properties in Europe last season as he tormented the opponents' defenders throughout the game, using his unbelievable speed and skills. On the other hand, Al-Nenni had an easy game in midfield as he dictated the game with some neat passing and good defending. Basel's coach Hakan Yakin will be pleased with the good start of Basel and our Egyptian stars as they started their mission to retain the league title. Ahmed Hegazi started with Italy's Fiorentina their preparations for the new season with an emphatic 8-0 win over Montecatini. That was the first friendly game for the Viola this season as their new signings Joaquin, Ambrosini and the back from a two-year injury Rossi made their debut. Hegazi played only the first 45 minutes as Montella changed a big part of the team at half time. The first half ended in a 3-0 lead as Hegazi and his fellow defenders had an easy ride that afternoon and barely broke sweat due to the mediocrity of the opponents. Hegazi will be hoping to find a place in the starting 11 this season as he has healed from his injury completely and is back to his best physical condition according to the player himself. Ahmed Hassan Kouka who's expected to take the Portuguese league and European football by storm this season, started in brilliant fashion after playing his first friendly game with Rio Ave after returning from the U-20 World Cup where he flourished. The game ended in a 6-1 win for Rio Ave over Selecao. Kouka started the game on the bench and came on at half time to score the third and fourth goals for his team. After an incredible World Cup with the national team where he scored two goals and set up another two, Kouka will surely be hoping to shine this season and move to a bigger club and bigger league. On another note, an Egyptian superstar in the form of Hossam Ghali left Egypt to join Lierse after falling out of love with Egyptian football, as did his fellow teammate Mohamed Barakt. Ghali claimed that the reason behind his decision is that the general atmosphere in Egypt following two revolutions in two years which overthrew two presidents, and the start-stop status of the league until it was cancelled at the end persuaded him to accept Lierse's offer. Ghali is no stranger to European football as he played for Feynoord, Tottenham and Derby County as well as playing in Saudi Arabia for El Nasr. During his career, Ghali was regarded as one of the best midfielders in the history of Egypt and was once praised by Pepe Guardiola and Fabio Capello who labeled him an extraordinary talent who can be one of the top players in Europe. After taking big steps towards fulfilling his potential, a fall-out with Martin Jol, Tottenham's coach at that time, proved to be the start of Ghali's decline as his stature as an extremely promising youngster who quickly diminished until he returned to Egypt where he captained Ahli to the African Champions League. At 31, this is definitely Ghali's last stint in Europe and no doubt he'll be hoping to make up for the lost opportunities in the past. In England, both Ahmed Al-Mohamadi and Steve Bruce declared their delight after the Egyptian signed for Hull City on a permanent basis. Mohamadi stated that Bruce is the one who persuaded him to join Hull permanently. “The manager was the one who brought me over from Egypt to play for Sunderland and now he has brought me here”. “I really enjoy playing for Bruce and I'm already looking forward to doing so again,” added Mohamadi. The 25-year-old completed his move to the newly-promoted Premier League side for an undisclosed fee, following a season-long loan at KC Stadium.
