Posts Tagged ‘Mohamed Salah’

World Cup 2014 Qualifying Round 4 Observations

Posted: June 11, 2013 by SFG in World Cup 2014 Qualifiers
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Egypt are on the brink of qualification after a 4-2 win over Zimbabwe.

Egypt are on the brink of qualification after a 4-2 win over Zimbabwe.

Cameroon’s midfield need a creative spark

Without wanting to dampen the deserved praise that Togo’s defence should receive, after they shut out group leaders Cameroon on Sunday, you can’t help but think that a player in the middle of the park with more of an eye for a pass could have broken the fort that was the Togolese goal. Starting with a midfield of Matip, Song, Makoun and Enoh (four defensive midfielders), it is no real surprise that Cameroon failed to score in Lome, with Alex Song probably the most attack minded of the four. Consistently unable to plough through the centre of the area, a more diverse approach such as playing Willie Overtoom behind the strikers would have been more productive, or perhaps employing some of the many strikers in the squad as wingers. Whilst Big Dog Samuel Eto’o was not in the team, N’Djeng and Aboubakar are certainly no donkeys, so cannot blame poor conversion for the result on Sunday.

-Sam Crocker

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London 2012 Olympics: Egypt football team profile

Posted: July 25, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Football, Olympics
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Egypt U-23 Olympic team at the CAF U-23 Championship

The Status Quo

Egypt has gone through tough times recently with political turbulence and the Port Said tragedy that claimed 79 lives. The fallout of the latter saw domestic football abandoned. Added to that, although much less significant with all things considered, has been Egypt’s second successive failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations after losing in a preliminary qualifier to Central African Republic at the end of June.

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Samba meets Song as Aboutrika returns to the international stage

Posted: April 2, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in Africa Round-up
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The return of Aboutrika

The Egypt v Uganda friendly in midweek saw the return to international football of Mohamed Aboutrika. The Egyptian playmaker, one of the key members in Egypt’s 2006 and 2008 Cup of Nations triumphs, had announced his retirement in the wake of the Port Said tragedy, where 74 fans died. In his second match back, after a substitute appearance for club side Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League against Ethiopian Coffee (you read that right), Aboutrika was an aerial threat throughout and eventually made Uganda pay by, fittingly, scoring the winner in injury time as Egypt recorded a 2-1 victory.

Despite being named the BBC African Footballer of the Year in 2008, Aboutrika has an obscure profile in Europe, by choice: firstly, Al Ahly have received offers but he has opted to stay at the Egyptian giants, showing gratitude that they made him who he is; secondly, to a much lesser extent, Al Ahly are regarded as the best supported club in Africa and the Arab world, Aboutrika gets paid well enough, that’s for sure. Whilst it’s impossible to fully expand on the qualities of Aboutrika here – as a player and as a human being – he is one of the symbols of what is good about modern Egypt. It’s good to see him back.

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