CAIRO: All-time best Egyptian football team Al Ahly has won 35 Championships since the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) was created in 1948. Al Ahly gained itself the name of “African Club of the Century” by scoring dozens of pan-African and pan-Arab competitions. Egypt's Premier League is unanimously considered as the best Championship in whole Africa and Middle East. Things are about to change though, says Pitso Mosimane, South African football coach. South Africa will face a double match against Egypt as Al Ahly meets SA SuperSport in Cairo on Friday, before the Egyptian national team visits South Africa for an African Cup of Nations qualifier next week. “Egypt has been affected by the protests and we have to take advantage,” said Mosimane as he gave al-Ahram journalist Eslam Omar a fair-play lesson. “These games will show us how we are progressing as a nation,” he added. “This is also an opportunity to stop this North African domination of the continent,” declared Mosimane, articulating his view on the turmoil that led Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to resign and still rages throughout the region. However, many Egyptians believe the January 25 Revolution represents a considerable progress for Egypt as a nation and as a people, even if this heavily affected Africa's best Premier League. In fact, the EFA and clubs declared in February that it is very important to restart the competition as “any cancellation will lead to dire financial consequences for all parties.” National competitions temporarily resumed last week. However, many foreign players are also considering leaving the country if clubs do not keep up with payments. Only three foreign players are admitted on every side in the Egyptian premier League. Nonetheless, their contribution to the quality of Egyptian football is substantial. BM
