  |
| Walking the plank: El Ahly goalkeeper Ekramy in Al-Gouna yesterday |
القراصنة ثلاثة
أهداف، "الأهلي لا شيء
I am
reliably informed the sentence above is Arabic for “Orlando Pirates three
goals, El Ahly NONE.”
And really,
despite a fascinating start to our own Professional Soccer League, that is THE
story of the weekend. Egyptian giants El Ahly hadn’t failed to score a goal at
home since 2004. But Roger de Sa’s continental crushers gave them the kind of
beating we won’t forget for a long, long time.
An opening
goal from Thandani Ntshumayelo after an astonishing interchange with Collins
Mbesuma made it 1-0 after 18 minutes, then came an incredible THIRD successive
African Champions League penalty save from Senzo Meyiwa from Waleed Soliman in
the 38th minute.
Just before
half-time, the Algerian referee sent off Ahmed Abdul Zaher for dissent as he
howled about yet another crunching Pirates tackle – and El Ahly, the defending
African champions and three-time winners, never really recovered.
The second half
belonged to Andile Jali. First he converted a 73rd minute penalty after Fathy
(pronounced Farty) had felled Daine Klate, then – two minutes later – the
Bafana reject produced a delightful little scooped pass to put Sifiso Myeni
away for the third goal.
And that was
it. In front of a windy, empty stadium at El Gouna on the Red Sea coast, the
Egyptians were simply flabbergasted by the Pirates defence – the ageless Lucky
Lekgwathi (estimates put him at 37) saved one of the line and tackled with all
the subtlety of a Pharoah’s tomb.
It was at
half-time I sent the under-pressure Pirates coach De Sa my usual SMS. Ths one
said: “YOU FYCKING BEAUTY! ROGER DE SA YOU ARE A LEGEND!” He replied with "Yeeeepeeee" (see screen grab of SMSes above).
After the
match, Roger said: “Fantastic result but look, we’re not getting carried away,
there’s still four games to go in the group.
“I’m very
happy but now I have to make sure we stay grounded – and get positive results.”
So you can
rave all you want about Kaizer Chiefs’ hard-earned 1-0 win over promoted
Mpumalanga Black Aces on Friday night. Clive Barker’s Dogs weren’t a million
miles from humbling Stuart Baxter’s double-winning Gods in the PSL’s opening
salvo.
And we can
praise Cavin Johnson’s SuperSport United – 4-1 winners over Steve Khompela’s
Free State Stars on Saturday – or Pitso Mosimane’s Monyloadi Signdowns for
their 3-1 at tricky Bloemfontein Celtic. Some might say both were aided by
harsh red cards.
But nothing
compares with Pirates’ epic victory in El-Gounah. They go top of Group A on
goal difference from Congo champions AC Leopards, who saw off Zamalec 1-0 in
Dolisie.
Egypt’s Red
Devils’ hadn’t lost at home since Tunisia’s Etoile Sahel beat them 3-1 in Cairo
to lift the Champions League trophy six years ago. The game was played in
afternoon heat and a gusting wind – but nothing could stop De Sa’s Buccaneers.
That second
star may not be as impossible as we once assumed. As I said on twitter, a 3-0
win in Egypt is like the Springboks triumping 60-0 in Wellington or the Proteas
enjoying a six-wicket victory in Delhi. Unthinkable.
BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 10am-noon.
You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday inwww.thenewage.co.za. A shorter version of THIS story will be published in The New Age on Tuesday.
#BOLLOCKS is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice!
