As the competition becomes ruthless, can Egypt's old soccer commentators keep up, or is it time for substitutions? Ahmed Hamdy asks fans for answers Back in the days "before satellite", Egyptian fans used to watch all soccer matches on national television. They were given no choice when it came to commentators. It might be someone's lucky day hearing Medhat Shalaby, Mahmoud Bakr, Hamada or Mimi El-Sherbini behind the microphone, but it might also be someone's worst nightmare. Today, the huge variety of sports channels that soccer fans can choose from has changed the soccer commentating landscape. Fans now have the power to change the commentator in a blink, with a button push on their remote. Despite so, Shalaby, Bakr, and El-Sherbini have defended their terrain in the face of a new generation of commentators that appeared in the late 1990s, including Khalid Latif, the grandson of the legendary commentator Mohamed Latif, Tarek Al-Adwar, the walking soccer encyclopedia, and Hisham Fahmy, the rhyme lover. They also kept par with newly emerging Arabian commentators, such as Essam El-Shawaly, Hafid Darajy and Hazem El-Kadiki. "Keeping their place is one thing, and being the best is another," said Mohamed Amin, a second year business student at Cairo University. Amin thinks that despite being out on the field, Egypt's "veterans" have lost a lot of their popularity to Arabian commentators. "I would rather listen to El-Shawaly or El-Kadiki's commentary on Egyptian League matches than listen to commentators that cannot even pronounce the names right," he said. Pronunciation of names has been a major turnoff for other Egyptian fans. Youssef Abdelaal, second year business student at Ahram Canadian University, said that although sometimes mispronunciations might be funny, mostly they were frustrating. In addition to mispronunciation, Nada El-Sissy, a new mass communications graduate, thinks that the old commentators tend to ignore the match and talk about irrelevant subjects. "Bakr, for example, thanks everyone during matches from the president to the dustman. Is that really the right time to do so?" she asked. On the other hand, other soccer fans think that only Egypt's old commentators are able to do the job right. "El-Sherbini's passion and the excitement that he brings to the match can turn a dull match to a great one," said Ahmed Saleh, hairdresser. For Saleh, El-Sherbini's ability to illustrate any match is incomparable to any other commentator. "If he is commentating on the radio I can even turn off the TV," said Ahmed Nasr, an employee at a call center. "His illustrations will make me feel like I'm watching it already." Bakr also has his own fans. Aly Abdellatif, an employee at a private company, chose him as his number one choice when it comes to soccer commentating. "I like how he talks, as if he's sitting with you at home," said Abdellatif. "Bakr talks without any constraint, and in my opinion that is best way to get to people's hearts." Agreeing with Abdellatif, Mohamed Mounir, a third year student, expressed his fondness for Bakr's use of unique expressions. "He makes me laugh so much with his funny expressions when describing players' passes," said Mounir. "I also like Medhat Shalaby and his famous chant 'halla halla halla' when a player scores," he added. Mounir was not the only one to mention Shalaby. Amr Farid, a trainee at the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), chose him as his all-time favorite commentator. "He's sweet, illustrative and fun to listen to," said Farid. "He just has a fine voice that makes me feel at ease." Farid also expressed admiration for 's commentating. Despite his mistakes, Farid thinks that makes good use of his huge experience on the pitch to deliver to people what they cannot see, like tactical movements and changes. Despite all the weaknesses and strengths of the old Egyptian commentators, Abdelrahman Magdy, a video editor, believes that even if the Egyptian channels wouldn't want to risk giving one of the old commentators the chance to comment on all league matches, as Dream TV has given Bakr, at least they should not hire an Arabian commentator to comment on the Egyptian league, like Al-Hayat TV did when they hired Hazem El-Kadiki. "It is really irritating to turn on an Egyptian channel to watch an Egyptian match just to find the commentator with an Arabian accent," said Magdy. "Their over-passionate style is not even suitable for the boring Egyptian League, excluding the derbies between Ahly, Zamalek and Ismaili." Agreeing with Magdy, Mohamed Shaker, a web developer, thinks that getting Arabian commentators for the Egyptian League is unsuitable. "Al-Shawaly, for example, would use his French expressions and that wouldn't be very popular with Egyptians in the long run," he said. "It might be acceptable when he commentates on the UEFA Champions League or the World Cup, or even the African Cup of Nations, but the Egyptian League? No, I would prefer an Egyptian." Taking Magdy and Shaker's side in part, Mostafa Abdellatif, a fourth year engineering student, expressed his refusal of any Arabian commentator commentating on the Egyptian League. Abdellatif believes that Egypt needs a new generation of commentators, however, with the ability to compete against Arabian domination of the market. "I don't think the old commentators should retire, but instead stay and teach the upcoming generations," said Abdellatif.
