Ahli hire a new coach as a stopgap measure, reports Ahmed Morsy Defending league champions Ahli have named their former star Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Shafi as their new, short-term coach after the departure of Hossam El-Badri. The Ahli football committee made its decision on Tuesday evening, two days after El-Badri resigned following Ahli's crushing 3-1 loss to Ismaili. Known as 'Zizo' in his playing days, Abdel-Shafi was appointed on only a temporary basis. He will be in control until 31 December, the day Ahli play league leaders and traditional derby rivals Zamalek. After that Zizo might stay on, depending on how he would have fared up until that point. Or the club will hire a full-time foreign coach. Zizo will be assisted by former Ahli right- wing Yasser Radwan and Mohamed Youssef, who was also assisting El-Badri. Sayed Abdel-Hafiz will take over from Hadi Khashaba as football director. Before his appointment, Zizo was the head of Ahli's youth football sector. In addition, he coached several Egyptian domestic league teams including the Arab Contractors, Ittihad, Misri and Suez Cement. He was the coach of the Egypt Olympic team in 1999. Zizo led his first training session with Ahli yesterday morning. El-Badri was selected Ahli's head coach last year after Portuguese manager Manuel Jose left the club. El-Badri had been Jose's assistant for over five years and was asked to fill the shoes of the tactician who garnered for Ahli four African championships. Though it was the first league loss for Ahli this season El-Badri has been under fire since the start of the season due to the Egyptian champions' lackluster displays and unconvincing results in the league and the African Champions League in which the red shirts failed to reach the final. It was the second successive loss for Ahli against Ismaili this season after their 4-2 defeat in the second-leg of the group stage in the CAF African Champions league. With open arms, Zamalek welcomed Ismaili's early Christmas gift on the same day by claiming their seventh league win this season thanks to the second half teenage substitute Mohamed Ibrahim who scored deep into injury time to give Zamalek a precious 1-0 victory over Misri. The win kept Zamalek in first place with 24 points, six clear of closest rivals Ahli who still have two games in hand. Ismaili moved up to seventh place on 16. Hosts Ismaili made the most of their opponents' poor performance. It took Ismaili only 10 minutes to take the lead when Ahli's former defender Shadi Mohamed scored thanks to Ahli's goalie Mahmoud Aboul Saoud's his ill- timed full stretch jump. Mohamed slotted home a corner kick after Aboul Saoud's failure to hold on to the ball. Four minutes past the hour mark, Abdullah El-Shahat doubled the score when Ismaili striker Ahmed Ahli nodded the ball towards El-Shahat who beat his marker to the ball and dribbled past Aboul Saoud to slot into the ceiling of the empty net. Eight minutes from the interval, Ismaili's striker Ndubuisi Godwin tripled the score, outrunning defender Wa'el Gomaa to go one-on- one with Aboul Saoud and nudge home with ease. In the second half, El-Badri tried to revive his attacking line-up by introducing the Lebanese striker Mohamed Ghaddar and youngster Ahmed Shoukri at the expense of Liberian forward Francis Doe and ineffective midfielder Mohamed Barakat. However, there was no impact and Ismaili remained dominant. Godwin could have completed a brace when he rounded his marker Gomaa in the area, to drive a shot that struck the woodwork. In the 71st minute, Ahli's right back Ahmed Fathi pulled one back for Ahli with a pinpoint drive from outside the area. Afterwards, Ahli produced several scoring chances late in the game but all for naught. Ahli were without left back Sayed Moawad, midfielder Hossam Ashour and striker Mohamed Fadl due to injuries. Despite the heavy loss, Ahli's assistant coach Alaa Maihoub tried to downplay his team's loss, saying Ahli will make amends soon. "I hope no one makes a big deal out of this," he stated in the post-match news conference. "It is Ahli's first league loss this season and any team can easily lose. "Only teams in search of the title are capable of reclaiming form swiftly, and that's what we will do. "We conceded the three goals because of individual mistakes but I don't want to hold anyone responsible for the defeat. We win as a team and lose as a team. "I know that the fans' dissatisfaction and disappointment are justifiable but we need to keep supporting the team," he said. "The game at Ismaili is over now and we need to focus on what's next." Zamalek's priceless 1-0 win over Misri on the same day fortified their place on top of the Egyptian national league table. The first half ended in a goalless draw and it was greatly balanced. Zamalek winger Hazem Emam came on as a substitute replacing Alaa Ali, who sustained an injury. The introduction of the youngster Emam paid off in the second half. Emam gave Misri's defence headaches on the right flank, whipping in a number of crosses. In the 73rd minute, Zamalek's Abou Kone was introduced but barely influenced up front. Six minutes from the hour mark, 18-year-old midfielder Ibrahim was fielded. In the last minute of injury time, Ibrahim made the difference after maneuvering past one defender and dodging another before guiding home a ball which looked deceivingly easy but which eluded keeper Amir Abdel-Hamid. "The triumph is really precious because it was a last-gasp one," Zamalek coach Hossam Hassan told the post-match press conference. "We were superior and deserved to win. A lot of clear-cut chances over both periods."
