African champions in January, by mid-year Egypt looked anything but the best as they struggled merely to enter the tournament they have for so long dominated. Al-Ahram Weekly reviews the highs and lows of the country's mercurial football team plus the past 12 sporting months Egyptian football saw the glory of success after the bitterness of failure. By the end of January, a solitary goal was enough for Egypt to beat Ghana in the final of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, adding to their unprecedented overall haul and setting a new record in the process. The crown gave Egypt their seventh ACN title, three more than Ghana and Cameroon. The victory was also Egypt's third ACN title in a row, a record that surely will not easily be broken, having enjoyed a streak of 19 matches without a defeat over four ACN tournaments. Along the way in Angola, Egypt beat four World Cup-bound teams. Indefatigable captain Ahmed Hassan reached 170 international caps and was voted player of the tournament. Hassan would later reach 175 caps. The find of the tournament, though, was the novice Mohamed Nagui or "Gedo" who finished top scorer despite incredibly coming on as a substitute in every match. The win was also an opportunity for Egyptians to help erase the bitter memories of failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Following the victory, the roads of Cairo and other cities were jam-packed with people and their vehicles in the thousands who turned out to celebrate, but for once drivers and pedestrians alike were far from impatient. Men and women of different age brackets and of varied socio-economic backgrounds took to the streets at night after Egypt won the final. Until the early hours of the following dawn they chanted "Masr, Masr" waving the flag of Egypt. In the morning, huge throngs massed for the team's plane arrival from Angola. In an untypical move President Hosni Mubarak received members of the team twice on the same day of their arrival. Mubarak took the time to shake hands with every member of the team and their trainers as they disembarked before the team took a bus ride on Cairo's streets to be welcomed by adoring and ululating Egyptians. Months later, though, Egypt found herself from kings to near paupers, at the bottom of Group G in the qualifiers for the 2012 ACN with just one point from two games, garnered after a surprise 1-1 draw with Sierra Leone in Cairo, then a shock 1-0 loss to Niger. As Egypt prepares for a crunch match against South Africa in Cape Town in March, there are serious concerns over the team's prospects of going to Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in 2012. Should Egypt not make it to the tournament, it would be the first time a defending African champion fails to qualify. There was another football headache in May when FIFA banned Egypt from playing in Cairo for two World Cup qualifiers after fans attacked the Algerian team bus before their World Cup qualifier in November 2009. FIFA ruled that Egypt must stage its first two home matches in qualifying for the 2014 finals at least 100 kilometres from the capital. The Pharaohs were also fined $88,000. It was reported that FIFA's disciplinary panel had said Egypt's federation failed to ensure the Algeria's delegation safety before that match. Two Algerian players were injured by broken glass when fans hurled stones at their team bus being driven from the airport. Fortunately for Egypt, FIFA did not deduct points but at the same time did not punish Algeria after their fans reportedly ran amok on the streets of Omdurman after the deciding World Cup qualifier which was played on 18 November, assaulting Egyptian spectators while brandishing knives. FIFA, though, refused to take punitive measures, citing a lack of evidence. Sudan in tandem denied that any incidents had occurred before, during or after the game. The World Cup dispute led to a huge diplomatic row between Egypt and Algeria last year which healed somewhat this year after Egypt whitewashed Algeria 4-0 in the semi-final of the ACN in Angola. A rapprochement of sorts was crowned in December this year when in Qatar FA presidents Samir Zaher of Egypt and Algerian Mohamed Raouaraoua buried the hatchet with the help of mediation from Doha. A week later, the pair met in Cairo at an African awards ceremony, and smiled for the cameras. The patch-up could not completely erase painful memories nor assuage the bitterness of not going to the World Cup in 2010. After failing in our bid to host the World Cup or qualify for it, the only thing left this year was to watch it on TV. In friendlies, Egyptian football was again less than perfect. In March in legendary Wembley Stadium against England, Egypt played brilliant football and took a 1-0 lead at half time thanks to a clinical finish by Dortmund striker Mohamed Zidan, but England's famed internationals fought back to register a 3-1 win owing to a memorable second half performance by Peter Crouch and some telling substitutions which led to all three goals. In a nearly packed stadium of exactly 80,602 fans out of a possible 90,000, it was a thrill seeing the Pharaohs playing in Wembley, such an iconic stadium, a first for an African and Arab country. Egypt's flag fluttered amid the 15,000 Egyptian and other Arab supporters who came to cheer the Egyptians on. The country beat Australia 3-0 in Cairo. However, despite being supported by a full house of enthusiastic Egyptian expatriate fans, Egypt slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Qatar in Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. It was the first time Qatar had ever beaten Egypt, adding to the Gulf country's joy after it won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup in what was a stunning vote. The loss to Qatar did not affect Egypt's world ranking at No 9 since the match was not included on the international agenda, but its importance laid in it being used as preparation by the Egyptian side for the 2012 ACN qualifiers. Close to the end of 2010, our junior footballers became the only Arab team to qualify for the African Football Youth Championship. Two-time African champions Egypt qualified for the CAF African Youth Championship to be held in March 2011 in Libya after beating Senegal 3-0 in Port Said in the final round of the qualifiers. Earlier, Morocco and Tunisia were eliminated by Senegal in the preliminary rounds. Algeria and Sudan's hopes to qualify were also ruined during the preliminary and first stage of the qualifiers. At the club level, Ahli once more confirmed their dominance of Egyptian football by winning their sixth consecutive domestic league title in May, their 35th overall in their storied history, three weeks before the end of the season after an easy 3-0 victory over the relegated side Mansoura. With three matches to spare, Ahli left the likes of Zamalek and Petrojet to compete for second spot which brings African Champions League qualification. A month later, Ahli avenged last year's encounter with Haras Al-Hedoud by clinching the Egyptian Super Cup. After a four-match winless streak against Haras, Ahli managed to break the run to clinch their sixth domestic Super Cup title after beating Haras 1-0 in Cairo Stadium. In the previous season, Haras had defeated Ahli in the Super Cup and the Egyptian Cup final, in addition to forcing two national league draws. But, sticking to form, Haras beat Ahli for the FA Cup. Indeed, it didn't go all well for Ahli. On a miserable rainy night in Tunisia in October, the hopes of six-time African champions Ahli to make it seven ended after they lost 1-0 to Esperance in a poorly and hotly contested second leg semi-final. The first-leg had ended 2-1 for Ahli a fortnight earlier in Cairo. The lone goal in Tunisia, which was scored by Esperance's striker Mickael Eneramo, was enough to oust Ahli from the prestigious championship. The manner by which the goal was scored, a blatant handball which the referee and his assistant did not see, knocked Ahli out of the tournament they normally have a patent on. Ahli's African woes extended domestically after their coach Hossam El-Badri resigned close to mid-season following an embarrassing 3-1 loss to Ismaili. In late November Ahli hired former club star Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Shafi as a stopgap measure. Known as 'Zizo' in his playing days, Abdel-Shafi was appointed on only a temporary basis. In fact, his contract officially ends today, 30 December, when Ahli play league leaders and traditional derby rivals Zamalek. Zizo might stay on, especially if Ahli are to defeat Zamalek, but his record of one win and three draws was not what Ahli management was looking for. Instead, there were strong indications that Ahli's former head coach Manuel Jose of Portugal is returning. Jose, who won 19 titles altogether for Ahli during his almost seven years with the club, including four African crowns, resigned from the Saudi football club Ahli Jeddah in December, apparently in preparation for an Ahli comeback. Across town, Zamalek Club chairman Mamdouh Abbas along with the entire board had to go when a court ordered the board be disbanded following allegations of vote rigging in last year's elections. Mortada Mansour, who was runner-up to Abbas in that poll, claimed he lost because of voting irregularities, saying a large number of unregistered members had voted. Accordingly, an interim board was appointed until new elections are held in July next year. But soon after, another court decided in favour of Abbas and his comrades who gleefully returned to office. Tunisia won the 19th African Handball Championship after beating defending champions and host nation Egypt 24-21.The win avenged Tunisia's loss of their title to Egypt in Angola in 2008. The African tournament acted as a qualifier for the World Championship, with the first three teams going automatically to the global event. Thus, despite the loss, Egypt still earned a berth in the World Championship in Sweden in January. Egypt captured one judo gold and two bronze medals in the World Cup in Cairo to finish in sixth place. Five honorary places in the women's events and six for the men were also awarded. While football remained and will forever be Egypt's most popular sport, squash continued to be the country's most successful. This year, we not only won all individual medals in the 2010 Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship, but now hold all four major world team titles -- the men's and women's senior and junior crowns . In a dramatic climax to the 2010 Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship in the Ecuador capital Quito, top seeds Egypt beat defending champions Pakistan 2-1 to win the World Squash Federation title for the third time since 1994. New world individual junior champion Amr Khaled Khalifa put the favourites in commanding position in the tie after beating Pakistan number one Danish Atlas Khan 11-3, 11-9, 11-3 in a victory which marked Khalifa's 10th successive win in the two-week long championship. At the African Athletics Championship in Kenya, Egypt came in fourth, with four gold, two silver and three bronze medals, a decent finish in a sport which has always been Egypt's Achilles heel. In the men's 200 metres, Amr Seoud was a blur, finishing first and breaking the national and Arab record at 20.36 seconds. In the discus, Omar El-Ghazali won first with 59.30 metres and Yasser Farag came second with 58.71 metres. In the men's hammer throw, Mohsen El-Anani won first place with 74.72 metres while Mustafa El-Gamal took third with 71.40 metres. Hassan Mahmoud came fourth with 68.43 metres. In the javelin, Ihab El-Sayed took first with a throw of 78.02 metres. In the women's hammer, Egypt's national and Arab champion Marwa Hussein won silver with a season best performance of 62.36 metres. Sarah Hassib took third with 46.51 metres. In the women's javelin, Hanaa Omar finished third with 55.14 metres. At the African Junior and Youth Weightlifting Championship, Egyptian weightlifters collected a whopping 87 medals, allowing Egypt to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Youth Games in Singapore. In the junior women's events Egypt came first with six gold and one silver. In the girls segment, Egypt came first with four gold, one bronze and one silver. The Olympic Youth Games proper were held for the first time in Singapore. Taking part with a relatively big delegation, Egypt won six medals -- two gold, two silver and two bronze. The gold medalists were awarded a scholarship under which they will join the Olympic Solidarity Programme sponsored by the International Olympic Committee to help athletes prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London. The Lifesaving World Championship -- Rescue 2010 -- was officially launched in the coastal city of Alexandria in October. Pool events were held in the Olympic swimming pool of Alexandria and ocean events at Mamoura Beach. Over 3,000 athletes and more than 1,000 delegates, officials and team managers participated in the two-week event which was held under the patronage of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. The centennial of the Egyptian Olympic Committee (1910-2010) was marked in style at the beginning of December in a celebration attended by President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge. On the occasion was published an illustrated encyclopedia titled 'The Egyptian Olympic Committee during 100 Years'. A documentary with the same name is in the making. A stamp and gold and silver coins with the logo of the EOC centenary have also been issued. With eight gold, eight silver and five bronze medals, Egypt came first in the Arab Clubs Championship in bodybuilding, ahead of Iraq and Jordan. The perpetually overlooked Sharqia field hockey team claimed their 19th African title after capturing the continental championship. The best was saved for last. In mid-December, Samuel Eto'o of the Cameroon was crowned the African Footballer of the Year for an unprecedented fourth time. Ghana was voted the best team and the best African-based player went to Egypt's midfield dynamo Ahmed Hassan. Even though the African federation's headquarters is in Egypt, the awards ceremony was held in Cairo for the first time.
