As has been pointed out, Egyptian sensation Ahmed Hassan Kouka is set to take the Portuguese league and European football by storm this season as evidenced against English giants Newcastle in a friendly this week. Kouka scored two magnificent goals inside the first 10 minutes and set up the third goal of the game in addition to winning a penalty in the last minute which was missed by his teammate. Kouka's first goal came from a wonderful first-time shot with the side of his right foot after a cross from the right hand side, while his second goal came after an amazing piece of skill allowed him to beat his marker in style to slot home to make the score 2-0 to Rio Ave from two extraordinary strikes from the Egyptian goal machine. Kouka set up his side's third goal to Braga as well as winning a penalty in the last minute of the game which was missed by Lima. An all-round performance that showed everything about our young Egyptian star against a team like Newcastle surely caught the eye of everyone watching the game including Newcastle's coach Alan Pardew who praised the Egyptian striker after the game and declared that he was the difference between the two teams throughout the 90 minutes. Ahmed Hegazi and Fiorentina continued their preparations for the new Italian season as they played their second friendly game of the preseason and managed to demolish their opponents Trentino 9-0. Hegazi once again played from the start and had a very comfortable day at the office and showed some good touches when he went forward. Like what happened last week, Montella changed Hegazi and all his fellow starters at half time as he made 11 changes in his side. New signing Mario Gomez made his debut in the game but couldn't find the back of the net. Mohamed Salah and Al-Nenni could not help Basel clinch all three points against last season's runners up Grasshoppers in the second game of the league campaign for both teams. The gamed ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw but what was more disappointing is that Al-Nenni injured his shoulder in the 38th minute and left the game on a stretcher and was taken to hospital immediately for some scans. Salah also was replaced in the 63rd minute after playing a very good first half but an average second as Grasshopper's defenders kept a close eye on him and didn't give him any space to use his speed and skills. Al-Nenni's injury extent is unclear but hopefully it won't be as bad as it appeared. Basel is now second in the league table behind Young Boys which is the only team to win their two games so far. Hossam Ghali or the Egyptian De Rossi managed to score his first goal for his new side Lierse with a bullet header in their friendly game against Vitesse Arnhem in a the game that ended in a 2-1 win for Ghali's side. Ghali showed his immense class during the game and was the standout performer for his side thanks to his extraordinary vision and killer passes. His goal came in the first half as he met a corner from the right hand side with an extremely powerful header that flew into the top corner to score the first goal of the game and his first for Lierse. Another Egyptian rising star in the form of Mahmoud Abdel-Moneim, or “Kahraba”, seems to be on his way to the Swiss league to join Luzern. Kahraba, who showed glimpses of his talent at the U21 World Cup is set to follow Salah and Al-Nenni to Switzerland as the Swiss club agreed terms with Enppi and with the player himself to take the player on loan for this coming season with an option of a permanent deal. According to Enppi, Kahraba should be a Luzern player by the end of this week. Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet who was one of the star performers of the national team at the U21 is wanted by the former European champions Nottingham Forest. The championship club watched Trezeguet at the World Cup and contacted the player and his agent after the tournament and agreed personal terms with the young Egyptian star. The English club will now have to agree a deal with Ahli in order to complete the move. Hopefully Ahli will agree to sell their promising youngster and give him a chance to show his worth in Europe.
