Ever since the 2004/2005 league championship kicked off back in September, it was quite obvious to neutral observers that El-Ahly were easily cruising towards their record, and naturally deserved, 30th championship title. The reasons for this success, however, were not so obvious. The media, often intentionally, managed to distort many of the facts as to why Ahly clinched this year’s title. This is an account of why El-Ahly, four years later, are the champions yet again.
One of the most common arguments presented in the media is that Ahly emerged victorious because there was hardly any competition. While one can acknowledge that Zamalek and Ismaily were not on top form, this in no way proves that Ahly would not have won anyways had either Zamalek or Ismaily been up to the level of the competition. In fact, in most cases, the only reason why Zamalek or Ismaily would ever win a title is that Ahly is not on top form, and not vice versa.
El-Ahly are the champions because the management defined its goal properly: to regain the title regardless of who is in competition. As opposed to almost every other club in the league, whose goals are always limited to just beating El-Ahly, and if they fail to establish that goal, it is in most cases because Ahly are to blame and never that their team is really not doing enough. This is mirrored in Zamalek’s Ahmed Ramzi’s comments, in which he never fails to blame Ahly for his team’s fall. In one interview, he states that Zamalek currently have the best eleven starters and a few minutes later he contradicts himself when he lays the blame on the EFA for suspending current Zamalek and ex-Ahly player Ibrahim Said. If Ramzi believes that his starters are the best, why is he attributing his team’s misfortunes to the suspension of an ex-Ahly player (who never really played for Zamalek before that interview)? Ahmed Ramzi also stated that his players were “shaken” by the controversial penalty kick awarded to Abu Trieka yet he fails to realize that Zamalek players, specifically Tarek El Said and Gamal Hamza, continuously dive in the penalty area and have been awarded numerous controversial calls ranging from two penalty kicks against Ahly, to Medhat Abdel Hady’s blatantly offside goal against Ismaily recently.
It is obvious that Ramzi is just building up excuses for his own bad results, since most of his arguments are either contradictory or are completely illogical.Taking Ramzi’s comments into consideration, one can ask, did any official at El-Ahly over the past four years of bad luck ever blame any club or the EFA? The answer is no. Ahly does realize that pointing fingers achieves nothing, and that the clubs results are in the players hands, not in the competitor’s. Again, this is why El-Ahly deserves to win the title.
El-Ahly has the most stable and professional management in Egypt. An example of this would be the elections that were held last month and the respectable environment that came along with it. The administration works towards the collective benefit of the club, not individuals. This is why Manuel Jose was rehired as the club’s football manager. Comparing El-Ahly’s administration to that of other clubs, one can see again why El-Ahly deserved the title more than any other team. At Zamalek, the administration rehired Carlos Capral earlier this year. The Zamalek admin may have thought that by emulating El-Ahly and rehiring their ex-coach who brought them glory a few years ago, he can revive the old team spirit and bring in the same success again. Yet the difference between Ahly’s and Zamalek’s positions is obvious. Carlos Capral had many legal issues with Zamalek the first time his contract was terminated, while Manuel Jose was treated fairly and never really held any grudge against the club officials when his contract wasn’t renewed a few years ago. Of course, one should also mention that Zamalek’s board is crippled with internal conflicts and split-ups, something not at all common at El-Ahly.
El-Ahly’s also deserved the title because this year’s squad is technically superior to any team in almost every position. The board over the past few years helped prepare a solid team, often making many difficult yet good decisions, such as the selling of Hossam Ghali which brought in good cash, and the release of Ibrahim Said which helped improve team spirit.
Finally, El-Ahly deserved the title because even when the club suffered in the past four years, we were in most cases competing and losing the title by one or two point margin. The club never fell 20+ points behind the leaders.
The team should now focus on winning the remaining 7 matches and establishing a new record number of points, adding to the local record of most consecutive league match victories in one season.