Al Ahly doesn't lose often. Football club is the largest and most successful in
Egypt, and which claims to have tens of millions of fans around the world. But
Masry's supporters were not celebrating the victory. Something had gone wrong.
"The fans were coming, Sprint after the match," fini, 28, recalled last week. "I knew they hated me and all the players. All the players worked. I didn't know what was happening outside. But something was happening outside. After that they killed the boys. No men, boys. "
As fini and his companions fled from Masry in supporters dressing, one of the darkest episodes in the history of football has been unfolding in the nearby bleachers. Within an hour, more than 70 people, many of them fans Ahly and members of the fan club, robotics Ultras, lay dead.
"One of the fans came into the room and said: ' you have a problem outside. Someone was killed. ' And then another was killed and another, "he said. "After this other comes in, and has a wound".
He worked slowly a finger from the left side of his temple to his chin, to illustrate the Gash on the face of the young man. It was the bloodiest day in Egypt in the wake of exit 22 months ago of President Hosni Mubarak who ruled for nearly three decades. There were widespread allegations that the military Government that had replaced Mubarak allowed the violence to escalate in order to justify his powers and undermine the revolution.
As a result, the Football League was cancelled immediately. The game has yet to resume, and some clubs are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But fini and his teammates somehow have endured and continue to play. The team is dedicated to taking part in the most prestigious competition that remained — hard African Champions League — and vowed to honor those who died and winning. And he did it. Last month, al Ahly beat Esperance of Tunisia to be crowned champions of Africa, taking a path to the title that meant advocating a coup d ' état of Mali, conspiracy theories and protests during a meeting on the street.
Not only was the seventh victory of Ahly club contest — making it the most decorated club of African history — but also meant the team qualified for the Club World Cup in Japan, where the champions of the six regional Confederations Cup fought out through this past weekend to be crowned the best in the world. Another title, another chance to honor those who had died, was at stake. The man who had taken the Ahly this far, which had put back on track after the bloodbath, who had gotten to players who had been scarred by the chaos that had witnessed was the 52-year-old coach, Hossam el-Badry.
"The club called me to take charge as head coach, but it was very difficult for me to prepare players emotionally after Port Said," Badry said the day before al Ahly was to play the Japanese champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the quarterfinals of World Cup for clubs. Port Said's accident had led many players to withdraw immediately from stock. Among them was Mohamed Aboutrika, al Ahly midfielder famous and one of the greatest players that Africa has produced.
As the fans were killed in Port Said — some crushed to death in a stampede, others stabbed and beaten by supporters Masry said that Aboutrika — held a fan into his arms as he died on the floor of the locker room. Badry, the answer to get his players to focus on football again had to convince them that redemption for what happened on the field.
"I told them that I know it's very difficult to forget that day," he said. "You have to change this bad time for doing something good for them."
"The fans were coming, Sprint after the match," fini, 28, recalled last week. "I knew they hated me and all the players. All the players worked. I didn't know what was happening outside. But something was happening outside. After that they killed the boys. No men, boys. "
As fini and his companions fled from Masry in supporters dressing, one of the darkest episodes in the history of football has been unfolding in the nearby bleachers. Within an hour, more than 70 people, many of them fans Ahly and members of the fan club, robotics Ultras, lay dead.
"One of the fans came into the room and said: ' you have a problem outside. Someone was killed. ' And then another was killed and another, "he said. "After this other comes in, and has a wound".
He worked slowly a finger from the left side of his temple to his chin, to illustrate the Gash on the face of the young man. It was the bloodiest day in Egypt in the wake of exit 22 months ago of President Hosni Mubarak who ruled for nearly three decades. There were widespread allegations that the military Government that had replaced Mubarak allowed the violence to escalate in order to justify his powers and undermine the revolution.
As a result, the Football League was cancelled immediately. The game has yet to resume, and some clubs are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But fini and his teammates somehow have endured and continue to play. The team is dedicated to taking part in the most prestigious competition that remained — hard African Champions League — and vowed to honor those who died and winning. And he did it. Last month, al Ahly beat Esperance of Tunisia to be crowned champions of Africa, taking a path to the title that meant advocating a coup d ' état of Mali, conspiracy theories and protests during a meeting on the street.
Not only was the seventh victory of Ahly club contest — making it the most decorated club of African history — but also meant the team qualified for the Club World Cup in Japan, where the champions of the six regional Confederations Cup fought out through this past weekend to be crowned the best in the world. Another title, another chance to honor those who had died, was at stake. The man who had taken the Ahly this far, which had put back on track after the bloodbath, who had gotten to players who had been scarred by the chaos that had witnessed was the 52-year-old coach, Hossam el-Badry.
"The club called me to take charge as head coach, but it was very difficult for me to prepare players emotionally after Port Said," Badry said the day before al Ahly was to play the Japanese champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the quarterfinals of World Cup for clubs. Port Said's accident had led many players to withdraw immediately from stock. Among them was Mohamed Aboutrika, al Ahly midfielder famous and one of the greatest players that Africa has produced.
As the fans were killed in Port Said — some crushed to death in a stampede, others stabbed and beaten by supporters Masry said that Aboutrika — held a fan into his arms as he died on the floor of the locker room. Badry, the answer to get his players to focus on football again had to convince them that redemption for what happened on the field.
"I told them that I know it's very difficult to forget that day," he said. "You have to change this bad time for doing something good for them."
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