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WITH a support base of over 50 million fans, Egyptian champions Al Ahly can boast to be one of the biggest clubs in Africa and even the world over.
The club was formed in Cairo in 1907 by a group of students’ unions that wanted a place to meet in their fight against colonialism. Success-wise the Red Devils are the Real Madrid of African football because their trophy cabinet is full to the brim.
Ahly started to dominate Egyptian football in the late 40s when they won their first championship in 1949. Between 1949 and 1962 the club went on to win 11 Egyptian championships as they laid the foundation for the super club status they have to this day.
All in all, the club has won 34 Egyptian league titles in their history. Their dominance on the continental stage started in 1982, when they won the CAF African Cup of Club Champions, which is now the CAF Champions League.
They have gone on to win the competition a record six times with their recent success coming in 2008, when they beat Cotonsport Garoua of Cameroon in the final.
In their domestic league Al Ahly have a fierce rivalry with fellow Cairo club Zamalek. The rivalry between the two is so strong that a foreign referee is brought in every time they meet to handle their volatile ties.
Currently their squad features stars like Egyptian Pharaohs captain Ahmed Hassan, Mohamed Aboutrika and Angola’s Gilberto. Big defender Wael Gomaa, Sayed Moawad and club captain Shady Mohamed are also regular features in the team.
The Red Devils arrive this Thursday to play Gunners at Rufaro in a champions league first round match on Saturday. “Ahly have never lost to a Zimbabwean team before,” Egyptian consular to Zimbabwe Ahmed Moharran told Standardsport.
“They will be coming with coach Hossam El Badry who used to be the general manager when they came to Zimbabwe to play against Highlanders and Dynamos before.”
In 1983 they played DeMbare in the same competition and won both legs 4-1 (Cairo) and 1-2 (Harare).
They then played Bosso in 1991 with the matches finishing 3-1 and 0-1 in favour of the Red Devils. Highlanders managed to hold Ahly to a goalless draw in Bulawayo before losing 2-0 in Cairo in 2007.
In 2008 the Red Devils beat DeMbare 2-1 in Cairo and 0-1 in Harare on their way to the final. Gunners would have a difficult time in the second leg in two weeks time because Ahly use the Cairo Stadium as their home ground.
The Red Devils have turned the 74 000-seater stadium into a fortress and last lost a champions league match there in the 2007 final against Etolie du Sahel of Tunisia. With such an illustrious history and a star-studded line-up the Egyptians start as favourites to make it into the second round.
However Gunners can draw some inspiration from Nigerian club Kona Pillars who knocked out Ahly in the third round of the competition last year.
Al Ahly Honours
FIFA World Club Championships
Bronze Medalist, 2006
6th place, 2005
CAF Champions League
1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008
African Cup Winners’ Cup (4)
Winners 1984, 1985, 1986, 1993
CAF Super Cup (4)
Winners 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009
Egyptian Premier League 34
Egypt Cup (35)
Egyptian Super Cup (5)
Red Devils ask for a special diet
SIX-time African champions Al Ahly do not take anything for granted in their quest for excellence and that includes what they eat.
The Red Devils are Africa’s most successful club because every detail of their game is meticulously planned and well calculated. The same also applies to the meals the club’s players eat and Ahly are very particular about their diet.
The club’s dietician Dr Hany Wahba carefully screens all the meals the players consume.
Wahba sent a “menu” to Rainbow Towers on March 6 so that the hotel could start preparations and stock up before they touch down on Thursday.
Standardsport is in possession of the copy detailing all their dietary requirements to the hotel. For three nights, the Egyptian champions would be staying at the five-star hotel.
At a closer look, the menu is more like one would find at an upmarket restaurant. It is a carefully prepared diet with food items that constitute a healthy-eating plan for a professional sports team.
For breakfast the Red Devils players are expected to have Camembert cheese — a low-salt Cheddar cheese, boiled eggs, brood beans, omelette-egg with corn oil and mushroom, honey and yoghurt. Brown and white bread, full cream and skimmed milk, English cake and muffins together with fruit juice and tea should also be available for breakfast.
For lunch the players have a choice of carbohydrate-rich foods like spaghetti, macaroni, rice and potatoes mashed with milk. They would also have grilled chicken thighs or breasts — boneless and skinless, fruit juice and an assortment of salads available for their lunches. Their dinner is almost similar to their lunch with pastas and chicken making the main part of the meal.
The Egyptians are very strict with how the food is prepared. “Wash all ingredients of food carefully with food antiseptic material. Do not use mayonnaise when preparing salad. Do not prepare the food with butter, margarine, butter oil and cream,” said Wahba in the email.
When it comes to Zimbabwean clubs rarely, if ever, have they employed the services of a dietician before. The diets of local players are never monitored and they can get away with eating a heavy meal just a few hours before a match. They also travel outside the country without informing their hosts what the players consume and often complain after being served “foreign cuisine”.
BY NIGEL MATONGORERE
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