2006 FIFA Club World Cup

[Darvish11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Ahly_%28disambiguation%29

there are 8!

what does it mean in arabic?

[Pharaoh]

It means "national" in Arabic. I'm surprised there are so many by that name. I really don't hear anything about any of the others besides Ahli Jeddah occasionally.

[Darvish11]

i saw the beginning of the america al ahli game and al ahli truly plays beautiful soccer, unfortunate that they lost to nacional. Good luck to them in the future.

btw isnt dubais al ahli kinda famous?

[Pharaoh]

thanks bro . Yeah I'm still kinda pissed off about the Inter game.. just an unfortunate way to go out, but that's football. Congrats to them for getting the job done against us and Barca, even though they were probably the worst team both games and only scored 2 goals total on the tournament.
As for Dubai's Al Ahli, I'm not sure what all they've achieved on the Asian scene? I guess that budget makes them pretty competitive within the UAE though. Afterall, they were able to acquire and keep a player like Karimi, and other Iranians, for quite a while.

[Pharaoh]

Some of the highlights can be seen here by the way: http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/Clubworl...06-124,00.html

another crazy free kick by Treika

Ahly have had to overcome a lot this year and it's to see the season end on another positive note. Injuries to Gilberto and Barakat (two key players), and of course the death of international winger Mohammed Abdel Wahab earlier in the year, Allah yer7amo

[futbol>>>IRAN]

pharoah i cant help to ask but what is the african club competition like, I can't imagine it to be very competitive if al ahly is winning it all the time (no disrespect).

I like this al ahly team they are pretty impressive btw.

Because most african nations have their internationals playing overseas and its just that egypt never manages to qualify for the WC!

[Pharaoh]

I wish Ahly was winning it every time. It's been two in a row, and five total in their history. Ahly and Zamalek have gotten the best of the African club competitions since well before there were any African professionals in Europe, though it is true that, especially with the West Africans, most of the better players on the continent play in Europe. That applies to Egypt too though. I'm glad you enjoyed watching Ahly play . Egyptian football is very attack and possession minded. Fun to watch, even when we lose.

Africans are football-mad, so naturally the African Champions League is very competitive and followed as closely as any outside Europe. The North African teams generally dominate the scene... specifically Egyptian and Tunisian clubs (though the Tunisians do it with many foreign players in contrast to Egypt), and sometimes Moroccan. The difference seems to be in the organization of North African clubs in comparison to their sub-saharan counterparts. The league winners of Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast usually produce stiff competition as well though. South Africa boasts the most high-paying league on the continent but somehow fail to produce winning clubs on a consistant basis in the ACL. The competition is usually between North and West African clubs.

Egypt does seem to miss out on the World Cup often. Consider though that they were in, by all accounts, the toughest qualifying group in the region the past two World Cups. In 2002 they were joined by Morocco, Algeria, and Senegal, all of whom basically beat the crap out of each other. Egypt was the only team to beat Senegal, but still lost out on qualifying on the final day. And you saw how well Senegal did in the World Cup.

In 2006, it was Egypt, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast all in one group, while other groups paled pitifully in comparison in terms of quality. The World Cup qualifying system is the sport's biggest problem in Africa, and it's a mystery why it hasn't been altered despite all the cries for change. Still though, Ivory Coast did the job, and Drogba single-handedly kept Egypt out of the World Cup. Egypt took care of Cameroon, but Cameroon had Ivory Coast's number. The result in the end was Ivory Coast and their star-studded side to Germany, with Egypt and Cameroon watching from home, despite Egypt leading all groups in Africa in goals scored. Cameroon and Egypt probably would have better represented Africa than Togo and Angola for instance. Qualifying from Africa is extremely difficult with so many quality sides now, and a change in qualifying systems is needed to be able to truly extract Africa's 5 best teams, not just the best team out of a random 5-team group.

[Pharaoh]

Some pics of the match:

[Pharaoh]

and apparently Club America have a blind player?

[futbol>>>IRAN]

I wish Ahly was winning it every time. It's been two in a row, and five total in their history. Ahly and Zamalek have gotten the best of the African club competitions since well before there were any African professionals in Europe, though it is true that, especially with the West Africans, most of the better players on the continent play in Europe. That applies to Egypt too though. I'm glad you enjoyed watching Ahly play . Egyptian football is very attack and possession minded. Fun to watch, even when we lose.

Africans are football-mad, so naturally the African Champions League is very competitive and followed as closely as any outside Europe. The North African teams generally dominate the scene... specifically Egyptian and Tunisian clubs (though the Tunisians do it with many foreign players in contrast to Egypt), and sometimes Moroccan. The difference seems to be in the organization of North African clubs in comparison to their sub-saharan counterparts. The league winners of Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast usually produce stiff competition as well though. South Africa boasts the most high-paying league on the continent but somehow fail to produce winning clubs on a consistant basis in the ACL. The competition is usually between North and West African clubs.

Egypt does seem to miss out on the World Cup often. Consider though that they were in, by all accounts, the toughest qualifying group in the region the past two World Cups. In 2002 they were joined by Morocco, Algeria, and Senegal, all of whom basically beat the crap out of each other. Egypt was the only team to beat Senegal, but still lost out on qualifying on the final day. And you saw how well Senegal did in the World Cup.

In 2006, it was Egypt, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast all in one group, while other groups paled pitifully in comparison in terms of quality. The World Cup qualifying system is the sport's biggest problem in Africa, and it's a mystery why it hasn't been altered despite all the cries for change. Still though, Ivory Coast did the job, and Drogba single-handedly kept Egypt out of the World Cup. Egypt took care of Cameroon, but Cameroon had Ivory Coast's number. The result in the end was Ivory Coast and their star-studded side to Germany, with Egypt and Cameroon watching from home, despite Egypt leading all groups in Africa in goals scored. Cameroon and Egypt probably would have better represented Africa than Togo and Angola for instance. Qualifying from Africa is extremely difficult with so many quality sides now, and a change in qualifying systems is needed to be able to truly extract Africa's 5 best teams, not just the best team out of a random 5-team group.

ye africa has some pretty good teams. The strongest team at the moment if you ask me is Ivory Coast or Cote d'Ivoire they were pretty unlucky not to qualify to the next round of the wc because of their extremly tough group!

And their are some other rising african nations in Mali who have a few world class players. I can see why it is dificult for egypt to qualify, I have seen them play and they are a really good team and after tunisia and maybe algeria the best arab team in my opinion.

Btw how would you rate Egypt againts Iran?!

[Pharaoh]

I would definitely rate Egypt ahead of Tunisia right now and well ahead of Algeria. They played in Cairo in the 2002 qualifiers and it was 5-2. In fairness Algeria are at their worst right now. Their prime was definitely in the 70's and early 80's. I like the Tunisian team but I honestly lose respect for any country that buys players of other nationalities, and Dos Santos is basically their offense. Without him, they don't smell the World Cup.

You're spot on about Mali.. Mali and Guinea are the next sleeping giants. Very skilled, athletic teams with a good crop playing in Europe.

As for Iran vs. Egypt... c'mon man this topic would go another 10 pages if I said I thought Egypt was better . Honestly, if you've followed a lot of my posts on this board, what brought me here in the first place was how strikingly similar I found the Iranian style to be in comparison to the Egyptian style. I lived in Saudi Arabia for 4 years and followed the Asian game very closely. Both teams love the 3-5-2... rely on possession and are always attacking. In fact Egypt had the most goals in all of qualifying in Africa this time around despite being in the toughest group.

Egypt played Iran in Tehran in the 2000 LG Cup. I remember Egypt won.. but I don't remember if it was 2-1, or maybe 1-1 then Egypt took it in extra time or penalties. What I do remember for sure was that it was a clean, fun, attacking game of football. Very enjoyable to watch. It would be cool if they played again sometime.

As for "Arab" teams... we honestly don't consider that stuff they play in the khaleej football . The best teams in your region have always been Iran and Iraq.. and Saudi Arabia occasionally has a pretty good team, but the rest leave a lot to be desired I'm afraid. We tend to seperate North African football from "Arab" football.

[futbol>>>IRAN]

man i seriously dont care Iran is on a slump right now and I reckon egypt is better than Iran.

Although the refing in the african cup was pretty dodgy sorry to say! Egypt played well but I belive Cote d'Ivoire should have won, if it were on neutral ground I gaurantee that would have been the case.

We ( Iran ) have alot of good players overseas that never seem to represent the country because of our crappy federations incompetence and unwillingness to be adventurous. Our coach at the moment is pretty average and inexperienced even though he hasn't had a defeat.

I saw Egypt play againts belgium in egypt (cant remember when!) and they absolutely demolished them and I was like thank goodness egypt does not play in afc else we would have been dead. Having said that I still think Iran can give Egypt a run for its money and that we are pretty close footbaliing wise.

[Pali]

haha yeah Egypt should transfer to the AFC they'd make it to the world cup everytime. The Sinai is in Asia and thats a big chunk of Egypts land.

[Milad-69]

We Didnt Winnn:@:@

[Pharaoh]

man i seriously dont care Iran is on a slump right now and I reckon egypt is better than Iran.
Although the refing in the african cup was pretty dodgy sorry to say! Egypt played well but I belive Cote d'Ivoire should have won, if it were on neutral ground I gaurantee that would have been the case.
We ( Iran ) have alot of good players overseas that never seem to represent the country because of our crappy federations incompetence and unwillingness to be adventurous. Our coach at the moment is pretty average and inexperienced even though he hasn't had a defeat.
I saw Egypt play againts belgium in egypt (cant remember when!) and they absolutely demolished them and I was like thank goodness egypt does not play in afc else we would have been dead. Having said that I still think Iran can give Egypt a run for its money and that we are pretty close footbaliing wise.

Man reffing in Africa is always dodgy. And trust me when I say Egypt has certainly been the victim of African officiating a LOT more than they've been the beneficiary. But I'm not sure how you think that influenced the outcome of the final. Egypt were given a B.S. penalty in extra time but missed it (thank God). It was actually Egypt that scored a perfectly legitimate goal in normal time that was rediculously wiped away because of some imaginary foul. Not sure if you watched the final or remember that... it was Amr Zaki who scored it from close range. It shouldn't have gone to extra time. And don't forget Egypt's best striker was suspended and didn't play that game. Also, it was the second time Egypt beat Cote d'Ivoire in the tournament, winning 3-1 in the group stages.

I don't argue that this current Ivory Coast squad is better... that's up for debate, but Egypt certainly deserved the cup... Most goals scored, the least goals conceded, and never trailed in a match for a second. Being at home helped of course, but that's because of the fans and atmosphere, not the refs. Egypt has one of the better home records in the entire world, so certainly home-cooking is big. Cairo stadium and its influence on the team can probably best be compared to the Azadi with Iran... both are countries with 70+ million playing in a stadium that often holds close to 100,000.

That Belgium match was about one year ago.. I agree, one of Egypt's better matches of the year. That thing could've been much worse than 4-0.

And I know what you mean about the FA being totally incompitent. It's exactly the same in Egypt and downright shameful to be honest . All they freakin care about is money. They continually refuse to hire able managers, and quite simply look for the cheapest available option. Guys like Bruno Metsu, Manuel Jose and others have expressed interest in the job in the past, saying they'd be interested in seeing how far they can go in a World Cup with Egypt's talent. The excuses are always the same... "(insert manager name here) wants too much money, we can't afford it." Yet at the same time dirt-poor nations central and west Africa are paying top-dollar for guys like Henri Michel, Bruno Metsu, Claude LeRoy, etc., etc.

By the way... I'm impressed with your awareness and knowledge of Egyptian and African football. There are some others in this forum that really know their stuff when it comes to Africa too.