http://www.worldcupblog.org/africa/ World Cup South Africa 2010 en-us World Cup Blog http://egypt.worldcupblog.org/uncategorized/ahly-vs-zamalek-cairo-derby-preview.html http://egypt.worldcupblog.org/uncategorized/ahly-vs-zamalek-cairo-derby-preview.html Tamim Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:28:22 -0500 State of emergency declared in Cairo; all thoughts are red and white; everybody is talking about Sunday's night; tickets sold out. The reason is obvious; it is the " fiercest and spellbinding" Cairo derby between Ahly and Zamalek as described by FIFA. http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/tahar-sioud-resigns-ftf-still-the-same.html http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/tahar-sioud-resigns-ftf-still-the-same.html Rami Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:04:41 -0500 Tahar Sioud is officialy gonzo. His time at the head of the FTF was one where he made countless mistakes and multiplied their negative effects by being unwilling to admit them and being generally dysfunctional in his dealings with the press. People used to complain about Lemerre a lot but with the arrival of Sioud there was yet another reason to be unhappy about the national team and the state of football in Tunisia. Kamel Ben Amor, a guy I referred to as a mumbling goofball in a previous post, takes the "vice" out of his title and becomes President at least until September when there will be a general assembly. This is where elections will take place to determine who will head the football governing body of our country. Am I being too hard on Ben Amor? I'm judging him simply on one appearance he made on Dimanche Sport. That's not exactly a good reference point but I saw what I saw and needless to say I wasn't impressed. http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/the-draw-is-complete-20082009-tunisian-league-calendar-revealed.html http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/the-draw-is-complete-20082009-tunisian-league-calendar-revealed.html Rami Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:27:44 -0500 Today the draw for the Tunisian Domestic League was completed at Abou Nawas Tunis. One look at the first day will see your jaw drop. Don't scroll down quite yet. Guess who's playing each other? Hint, it's something like a derby. Two of them to be precise. Ok, it's not EST vs. CA. Still didn't get it? Alright, the first day we will have none other than the two main championship contenders from last year that finished just two points apart: Club Africain vs. Etoile du Sahel in Sousse. Woa. As if that wasn't enough, we have another classic with Esperance Sportive de Tunis lining up against the Club Sportif Sfaxien in Rades. Talk about getting things off on the right foot! On a personal level I'm actually kind of worried, Club Africain didn't look so convincing against Djoliba (try not convincing at all actually) whereas ESS looked ready to start their season after that 2-0 win against Esperance. http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/tarak-dhiab-national-hero-national-controversy.html http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/tarak-dhiab-national-hero-national-controversy.html Rami Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:33:49 -0500 If you are Tunisian, Tarak Dhiab needs no introduction. However, some readers might not be familiar with a man that is literally a living legend in our country. He was a one of a kind player who plied his trade in midfield for Ariana before moving to Esperance. It is there that he would go on to carve his name in the "Blood and Gold" of the famous club. In a sense, he was a player before his time. A modern footballer who awed onlookers with his elegance and vision. His passing skills were perhaps his strongest attribute but what made him special was his ability to use both feet while dribbling and striking the ball. This made him a consistent threat at all times. You were always at his mercy. He could dribble past you just as easily as he could find a teammate in space. Add to that an ability to finish from close or long range and you start to see why they called him "the Emperor." Think Zidane but faster and with an afro (it was the 70's afterall!) Dhiab was once described by a teammate as the "the type of player who gives you the ball in a way that you have no choice but to score." http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/caf-confederation-cup-roundup.html http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/caf-confederation-cup-roundup.html Rami Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:18:02 -0500 Etoile Halfway There As I said in the comments of the preview, I missed the first ten minutes and was dozing in and out of sleep as I watched this one. Nevertheless, it was easy to notice from what I did see that Etoile had this game under control and the final result was never truly in doubt. Esperance's best chance to get a precious away goal came on a Darragi header which just missed the far post. Amine Chermiti, who was playing his last game in Sousse before his move to Hertha Berlin, opened the scoring in th 18th minute on a trademark lunging header. http://egypt.worldcupblog.org/uncategorized/haras-el-hdood-stumbles-in-confederation-cup-and-u-19-go-through.html http://egypt.worldcupblog.org/uncategorized/haras-el-hdood-stumbles-in-confederation-cup-and-u-19-go-through.html Tamim Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:35:14 -0500 haras el hdoud lost their match against sundowns from south africa 1-0 in the round 16 b of the confederation cup. the result isn't bad and they can win here in Alexandria given the history and size of the opponent and the fact that el haras present one of the most attractive football in egypt. i personally like watching them play. should they get through sundowns, they are going to have a mission impossible with a lot of north African teams especially big guns from Tunisia. good luck to them. http://guinea.worldcupblog.org/team-news/the-squad.html http://guinea.worldcupblog.org/team-news/the-squad.html shane Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:27:37 -0500 Now that we have gotten up-to-date on Guinea’s qualifying progress, it is time to introduce the squad. These are all the players that have gotten called up to the National Team since the beginning of the year. http://guinea.worldcupblog.org/team-news/back-on-track.html http://guinea.worldcupblog.org/team-news/back-on-track.html shane Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:25:06 -0500 Guinea entered their third match of qualifying poised on the knife's edge. Having just one point from two games meant that the Syli Nationale were in dire straights. A loss in Windhoek against The Brave Warriors of Namibia would likely end their World Cup hopes as well as their Nations Cup hopes. http://egypt.worldcupblog.org/uncategorized/pathetic.html http://egypt.worldcupblog.org/uncategorized/pathetic.html Tamim Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:11:16 -0500 a lot of action has been going on in egyptian football, but you may noticed that i didn't talk about anything. i preferred to remain silent because:1- 99%of the news were rumors and there was nothing certain so i didn't have a solid ground to stand on ,2- i am very sad from what is happening in egyptian football and i don't want to talk about it. but things has developed so much that i can't keep silent anymore. http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/caf-confederations-cup-1st-leg-previews.html http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/group-h/caf-confederations-cup-1st-leg-previews.html Rami Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:13:33 -0500 Etoile Du Sahel vs. Esperance Sportive de Tunis Time: 6:00 PM Tunis Time in Sousse on Saturday After last weeks debacle in Rades, Etoile will host Esperance in Sousse. I seriously doubt they'll be interested in offering any sorts of hospitality though and neither will their fans. No use revisiting the Cup Final as we've talked about it ad nauseum but the events that followed it have already effected the programming for this match. CAF had set an initial start time of 20:30 but the opening whistle has been pushed forward to 18:00 to ensure better chances of a safe return home to Tunis for Taraji fans (about 2000 are expected to attend) and an easier job for the police officers who will be out in full force. http://guinea.worldcupblog.org/team-news/off-to-a-rough-start.html http://guinea.worldcupblog.org/team-news/off-to-a-rough-start.html shane Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:15:33 -0500 Guinea's participation in World Cup qualifying began in the second round with the first of two group stage rounds. The remaining 48 national teams were drawn into 12 groups of 4 teams though following the withdrawal of Eritrea one group was reduced to 3 sides. The 12 group winners and 8 best runners up would progress to the final round of qualifying. Guinea were one of twelve top seeds and thus were guaranteed to avoid all the big teams with the exception of South Africa.