The Egyptian football league is finally back with 20 teams going head-to-head, with some of them aiming to avoid relegation. Others hope to finish as high as possible with the likes of holders Ahli, Zamalek and Ismaili aiming to clinch the title. Game week one witnessed some huge results and only one goalless draw. Al-Dakhleya managed to defeat Arab Contractors 2-0 thanks to two second half goals, Petrojet and Wadi Degla played out an entertaining 1-1 draw, Gouna and Ittihad played the only goalless draw of the week, Haras Al-Hodoud defeated Assiout Sport 2-1 while Al-Geish played some amazing football that helped them thrash newcomers Al-Nasr 5-0. The following day saw another outstanding performance from Semouha as they defeated another newcomer in the form of Damanhur 5-1 after Al-Maqasa defeated Al-Raja 2-1 earlier in the day. The last game of round one saw Masri come from two goals down to draw 2-2 against one of the favourites to win the title, Ismaili. Only eight games were played in game week one as both Ahli and Zamalek matches were postponed due to African cup commitments and the playing of the local Super Cup last week. Game week two started with a match between two of the four teams that did not see action in the first round. Al-Shorta entertained Enppi and cruised to a 2-1 victory to record their first win of the season at the first attempt. Two days later, Ittihad battered Petrojet 4-2 after going 4-0 up in the first half. Damanhour rescued a point as they scored a last minute equaliser against Haras Al-Hodoud to clinch their first point of the campaign after suffering a heavy defeat in the first week against Semouha. In-form Dakhleya destroyed Al-Nasr as they put four goals past them to record their second win and second clean sheet in a row, the only team in the league to collect maximum points from the opening two fixtures. The last two games saw Masri defeat Assiout Sport 3-1 away from home while Semouha were held to a 0-0 draw by the Arab Contractors. The rest of the games are to be played later this week. This season, the league reverted to the usual one-group system, dropping the two-group format of last season. On a separate note, it's getting from bad to worse for the Egyptian national team these days as they suffered yet more bad news. The latest FIFA ranking saw Egypt drop from 38 to 61 place. That is so low that and a team like Cape Verde is now above Egypt in the world ranking. Two defeats at the hands of Senegal and Tunisia in the qualifying rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations played a huge part in such a dramatic fall in the rankings and it seems as if the coming period could see us dropping down even more, given our pathetic performances in recent months. The top 10 African teams in the latest ranking saw Algeria deservedly coming top of Africa in addition to being the 20th in the world which is surely a huge achievement. Ivory Coast comes 2nd in Africa, Tunisia 3rd, Ghana 4th, Senegal 5th, Nigeria 6th, Cape Verde 7th, Cameroon 8th, Burkina Faso 9th and Congo 10th. All these nations are above the Egyptian national team which is now 13th in the continent. Whether Egypt's manager Shawki Gharib can pick his team up and return to winning ways in the near future remains to be seen. Egyptians undoubtedly hope so; seeing our nation lying 61st in the world ranking is nothing short of depressing.
