The young dervishes ended the unbeaten streak of the Arab world's wealthiest football club. From Ismailia Mohamed El-Sayed reports on the day youth prevailed Following the shock withdrawal of Egypt's Ahli football club from the Arab Champions League, Ismaili gave their countrymen a lesson on how to win despite missing most of its best players. Ismaili managed to put an end to Ittihad Jeddah's unbeaten streak in the Arab Champions League, edging them 1-0 in Ismailia on Friday. It was only the second defeat the Saudi side had suffered after a Guinness-record 35 unbeaten run in local, Arab and Asian cup matches. The team had lost 3-2 to an Iranian squad in the Asian Champions League a week earlier. The yellow jerseys are now on top of Group A with four points. Besides Friday's victory, Ismaili had tied with another Saudi club, Ahli Jeddah, 3-3 two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia. Ahli Jeddah and Sfax of Tunisia are tied with two points each, having drawn 1-1 in their encounter in Tunisia. At the bottom of the table lie Ittihad Jeddah with surprisingly just one point. Ahli pulled out of the same competition in protest at the Egyptian federation's decision to prevent the club from playing with their internationals. But it was hardly noticeable that Ismaili was playing under similar circumstances, doing without the services of as many as 10 of their first-string players. Playing with a team consisting mainly of under-20 fresh bloods, Ismaili's German coach Theo Bucker was forced to play with a completely new line-up, bringing in two new faces, Sherif Abdel-Fadil and Ali Gomaa. But the young Dervishes pressed from every direction from the outset and were rewarded 10 minutes before time through Malian import Dramane Traore who, along with his still- inexperienced mate Mohamed Mohsen Abu-Greisha, frittered away a half-dozen scoring opportunities before nailing the winner. Perhaps preoccupied with the idea of moving to greener pastures in Europe after his performance in January's African Cup of Nations, Traore, who has scored from seemingly impossible angles, seemed to lack concentration as he wasted gilt-edged chances. Ittihad Jeddah, who have spent more than 100 million Saudi riyals on signing new players during the last two years, simply could not keep up with the pace. "Given the fact that Ittihad is one of the powerhouses in Arab football, we should be proud of such a performance," Bucker, who was an Ittihad Jeddah player in the 1970s and their coach in the 1980s, said. "This match proves that [playing high- quality] football does not necessarily need big stars and names. I always look for the player who performs his role efficiently and that is what Abdel- Fadil and Gomaa did today." Asked about why opposing teams have scored against Ismaili in the dying minutes of eight matches, resulting in a loss of 12 points in the national league, Bucker said, "It will take my players some time to gain the necessary experience to maintain their advantage in the decisive minutes." Bucker, whose contract with the Dervishes ends in June, said he had received several offers to train teams in Egypt and abroad but added that he was "ready to sacrifice for the sake of this promising team and renew my contract with Ismaili with a lower salary than those which have been offered". Bucker makes $8,000 a month with Ismaili, the lowest amount of any foreign coach in Egypt. Talks on a contract renewal, though, could see his salary leapfrog to up to $16,000. The Brazilian head coach of Ittihad Jeddah, meanwhile, expressed his admiration with the performance of the Egyptians. "They deserved to win and they wasted several opportunities to increase the lead." The young Dervishes' bright performance is best attributed to the head of the juniors sector, Ali Abu Greisha. Fourteen years ago, Abu Greisha, a star with Ismaili in the 1970s, consulted with teammate Shehta on adopting a new strategy in searching for new players. They agreed to scour the country, especially in Upper Egypt, not limiting the search to Ismailia, for talent. Thus, when the team was forced to sell most of their players because of a financial crunch, the juniors carried the day. In the 1990s, they introduced dozens of players who have since made an impact in Arab and European fields: Ahmed Hassan of Turkish Besiktas, John Utaka of French Leon, Mohamed El-Yamani of Standard Liege of Belgium and Mohamed Barakat of Al-Arabi of Qatar are some well-known examples. So good and consistent have Ismaili been that they were named the Arab and African team of 2003.
