Other Leagues
Peseiro promises Zamalek victories and developed performance
Former Nigeria Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, who is now in charge at Zamalek of Egypt has promised to take the club to lofty heights.
He promised to lead the club to victory in the next matches, stressing that developing the team’s performance is also a priority for him.
On Friday, the Cairo giants unveiled the Portuguese as the coach, taking over from Swiss manager Christian Gross.
“My target is to win and develop the performance. Those who know Zamalek players realize that they are amazing,” the 64-year-old tactician told the club’s TV channel.
“Zamalek fans are wonderful, and they always provide an astonishing atmosphere. We want them to stand behind the team. Sometimes, they become angry when the team loses, but we want them behind us. All the club wants to please them.”
Peseiro arrived in Cairo on Thursday to finalize a one-and-a-half-year contract with Zamalek. No financial details were announced, but Peseiro will reportedly earn $70,000 monthly during the first six months.
The team’s uninspiring performance influenced the decision to part ways with Gross only two months into his second term with the White Knights, with eight wins, three losses, and two draws in 13 matches in the Egyptian Premier League.
Peseiro is set to assume his new role immediately as Zamalek prepares to face Petrojet on Sunday in the Egyptian Premier League before facing archrivals Ahly in the Cairo derby next Saturday.
Despite the challenges that await Peseiro, who worked previously in a short stint as Ahly’s coach during the 2015-16 season, the Portuguese tactician remains optimistic about delivering good results.
“My plan is to win in the next games. Zamalek coach should be always seeking victory whether in the home and away games,” the new coach explained.
“I promise to win and so I came here. I took the charge as I believe that we are capable of doing so,” he added.
Gross, 72, leaves Zamalek positioned third in the Egyptian League table with 26 points, trailing leaders Pyramids FC by four points and archrivals Ahly by three points.
Peseiro finally stressed that he prefers playing attacking football, adding that the team should always fight to win until the dying minutes.
Peseiro brings a wealth of experience from his stints with big names, including Porto and Sporting Braga in Portugal, Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, Panathinaikos in Greece, and UAE’s Al-Wehda.
Peseiro’s notable achievements include guiding Sporting to the Europa League final in 2005.
He also has experience on the international level, having managed Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and guided Nigeria to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
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Former African champions Ismaily SC, the club beaten by Nigeria’s Enyimba FC in the historic 2003 CAF Champions League final, have been relegated from the Egyptian Premier League after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Wadi Degla FC on Tuesday.
The result confirmed the end of Ismaily’s long-standing stay in Egypt’s top division, as the three-time league champions finished bottom of the four-team relegation group with 19 points.
The relegation marks only the second time in the club’s history that they have dropped out of the top flight and the first since the 1957-58 season. Their earlier relegation came during the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, when the club lost several key players before eventually returning to the elite division.
Founded in 1924 in the north-eastern Egyptian city of Ismailia along the Suez Canal, Ismaily are regarded as one of Egypt’s oldest and most iconic clubs.
For Nigerian football followers, the club remains closely associated with Enyimba’s historic triumph in the 2003 CAF Champions League final — a landmark victory that made the Aba-based side the first Nigerian club to win Africa’s premier club competition.
Enyimba defeated Ismaily 2-1 on aggregate in the final, winning the return leg 2-1 in Cairo after the first leg in Aba ended goalless. The victory launched a golden era for the Nigerian club, which successfully defended the title in 2004.
Ismaily themselves hold an important place in African football history. The Egyptian side became the first club from Egypt to win Africa’s top club competition in 1969, when the tournament was known as the African Cup of Champions Clubs.
The club last won the Egyptian league title in the 2001-02 season and also boasts two Egypt Cup trophies.
However, financial difficulties in recent years have badly affected the once-famous club. Reports indicate that Ismaily even published their bank account details publicly at one stage in a bid to encourage supporters to contribute funds toward the club’s survival.
Meanwhile, Wadi Degla’s victory lifted them to 48 points and the top position in the relegation group, keeping alive their hopes of survival.
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A goal scored under soccer’s experimental “daylight” offside rule was allowed for the first time in a professional match on Saturday, with Pacific FC forward Alejandro Diaz on target in a 2-2 draw with Halifax Wanderers in the Canadian Premier League.
The strike would have been ruled out under the standard International Football Association Board Laws of the Game, but stood under the CPL’s ongoing trial conducted in cooperation with FIFA.
The Canadian league is testing the rule this season as part of efforts to reduce marginal offside decisions and encourage attacking play.
Under the system, an attacker is only deemed offside if there is clear “daylight” between them and the second-last defender, rather than being penalised for narrowly being ahead.
The concept, long advocated by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in his role as FIFA’s head of global football development, is being assessed in Canada as a potential change to the offside law.
Diaz’s goal marked the first in-game application of the interpretation, which resulted directly in a goal, offering a glimpse of how the rule could alter attacking patterns and defensive positioning.
The CPL, which launched the trial earlier this month, has provided FIFA with a professional testing ground for the proposal as soccer’s world governing body evaluates whether to expand its use more broadly.
Reuters
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Al-Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy was handed a four-match ban after striking a referee on the head following a 1-1 draw with Ceramica Cleopatra, the Egyptian Pro League said on Thursday.
The Egypt international, who was on the bench for Tuesday’s game, was incensed after Al-Ahly’s appeal for a penalty following a handball in stoppage time was denied.
“He handed a four‑match ban and fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($942) for assaulting the referee by pushing or pulling (use of the hand without violence),” the league said in a statement.
The ban means El-Shenawy, who is expected to be Egypt’s starting goalkeeper at the World Cup in North America, will be sidelined until the final week of the league play-offs.
Al-Ahly are third on 41 points, five points behind leaders Zamalek.
-Reuters
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