Going for it TOMORROW starting at 5pm in Alexandria Stadium, Ahli might do something no other soccer club has done before -- win 17 consecutive league games. Having won 16 out of 16 matches in the national football league, Ahli tied the world record set by Celtic of Scotland in 1965 and Al-Faisali of Jordan last year. To break the record, Ahli must beat Ittihad on their home turf. In the first leg in Cairo, Ahli won 3-2 after climbing from a 2-0 deficit. Ahli equaled the record after beating Mansoura 1-0 last week in the 16th round of the league. Despite facing fierce resistance from the bottom of the table team, the Red Devils managed to snatch the three points via a second-half goal from Mohamed Abu Treika. Burkinabe coach THE BURKINABE Football Federation (FBF) has appointed Frenchman Bernard Simondi as the country's new national coach. Simondi replaces former Stallions coach Ivica Todorov after the French national, of Yugoslav origin, was sacked by the FBF. Simondi has been working in Africa since 2001 as the technical director of the Benin national side and then coach of Benin's juniors. Last year, the Frenchman had a spell in charge of Tunisian side Etoile Sahel and led the eventual Champions League finalists in some of their early group games in the competition. Simondi's immediate challenge will be to lead the Stallions into at least the top three of their 2006 World Cup and Cup of Nations qualifying group. Burkina Faso currently lie fifth in Group Two, but need make up only two points on the third place team to book a place in Egypt 2006. Only the group winner qualifies for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and South Africa presently top the group -- three points ahead of the Stallions. Britain wins team sprint BRITAIN won the team sprint in the final event of the Manchester leg of the World Cup series to secure the overall title for the weekend. But while Chris Hoy, Jason Queally and Craig Maclean were triumphant, Rob Hayles and Stephen Cummings both took tumbles in the Madison. And Maclean fell and cracked a rib in qualifying for the Japanese Keirin. Poland tool silver in the team sprint and no team could get within a second and a half of the British trio. Their qualifying time was the third fastest Hoy, Maclean and Queally have ever gone and, although they were slower in the final, they were still in a different class from the Polish team. Maclean had required stitches in his buttocks after his fall in the Keirin, but he was fit enough to fill the lead-off role. The same British team were knocked out in the first round by eventual champions Germany at the Athens Olympics. Hoy, who won gold in the kilometre time-trial, said: "It's good that we've not so much laid the ghost of Athens to rest but shown we've got the morale to come back from that. "It means we're not looking back on our last performance as a defeat. We're looking back on our last performance as a victory." Hoy, Maclean and Queally will now be favourites to regain the title they won in 2002 at March's World Championships. British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford said the team sprint represented the perfect end to a weekend that surpassed expectations. Brailsford said: "You got an inkling that if all our cyclists performed well there'd be a strong possibility of winning this World Cup, but each rider rode to the best of their ability. "What pleases me most is the way the riders in the team have approached the whole World Cup. They have been fantastically professional." But Brailsford will have been disappointed with the Madison in which the experienced Hayles was paired with Cummings, a newcomer to the event. Hayles, who fell in the event at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, had his wheel clipped by Spain's Miguel Alzamora and took three others with him as he slid down the track. Alzamora received a warning while Hayles, who won a bronze medal in the event in Athens in partnership with Bradley Wiggins, was able to limp away. Cummings, stepping in for Wiggins who is preparing for a meet in Australia later this month, had hit the track in qualifying. Tszyu, Hatton agree IBF light welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu says he has agreed to fight Ricky Hatton in Manchester on 5 June. The Russian-born Australian told his website that he expected the bout to take place at the MEN Arena at 0400 BST for the benefit of viewers in America. But Hatton's promoter Frank Warren has indicated there are still details to sort out before the fight is confirmed. Tszyu will reportedly earn at least $5m (�2.7m) for the bout, which would be one of the boxing highlights of 2005. "It gives me focus for the year ahead. I am excited to be fighting Ricky because I believe he is a worthy challenger," said Tszyu. "This is the fight my fans want to see, so I look forward to putting on a good show for them." Tszyu's promoter Vlad Warton added: "We did agree some time ago in principle, verbally, to take care of the deal. "However, I could never commit on behalf of Kostya because that is up to Kostya. Now we have done that." Manchester's MEN Arena has been provisionally booked for the contest but Warren has not ruled out switching to an outdoor venue. Hatton, a fanatical supporter of Manchester City, has made no secret of his dream to fight at their City of Manchester Stadium. Farnell retires FORMER WBU middleweight champion Anthony Farnell has announced his retirement because of health problems. The 26-year-old made the decision after his mandatory annual MRI scan revealed complications. "It had got to the point where I was worrying my family sick every time I got in the ring," said Farnell. "I've won two world titles and had some great nights. Now I have realised the main thing is being healthy and I am not going to jeopardise that." Farnell turned professional in 1997 and rattled off 26 straight wins before losing to British light middleweight rival Takaloo in 2001. He won the WBU crown from South Africa's Ruben Groenewald in 2002 and lost it to Wayne Elcock the following year. He reclaimed the belt from Scotland's Lawrence Murphy before losing it again to Portugal's Eugenio Montero in what was to be his last fight last June. Farnell says he intends to stay in the sport in a training and management capacity. Not at the top 2004 ends without an African country in the top 20 of FIFA's world rankings. At 21, Nigeria end the year as the highest ranked team on the continent. African rankings (world rankings in brackets): 1. Nigeria (21) 2. Cameroon (23) 3. Senegal (31) 4. Morocco (33) 5. Egypt (34) 6. Tunisia (35) 7. South Africa (38) 8. Ivory Coast (40) 9. Mali (51) 10. Zimbabwe (60)
