Cairo Derby

Cairo Derby

Al-Ahly vs Al-Zamalek
City or region	Egypt
Teams involved	Al-Ahly, Al-Zamalek
First contested	Zamalek 0-1 Al-Ahly Friendly (9 February 1917)
Number of meetings	211
Most wins	Total Ahly (89) Al-Zamalek (52)
Top scorer	Mohamed Aboutrika (13) 2013 CAF Champions League
Largest victory	Farouk 6-0 Al-Ahly 1942 Cairo League ( 2 January 1942)[1] Farouk 6-0 Al-Ahly 1944 Egyptian Cup ( 2 June 1944)[2]

The Cairo derby, also known as the Egyptian Derby, is a football match between Egyptian clubs Al-Ahly S.C. and Zamalek SC. It is a match between arguably the two most successful clubs in Egypt and Africa. Ahly and Zamalek were named by the Confederation of African Football "CAF" as The 1st and 2nd African Clubs of the 20th Century respectively. Both teams are located in Greater Cairo and their matches are considered the highlight of the football season with live broadcast to most of the Arab countries since the seventies. Usually the Derby is played twice each season with 2 matches in the Egyptian Premier League, but it is not uncommon to find the teams meeting each other in the Egypt Cup and in Africa's most prestigious club competition, the CAF Champions League.

The rivalry

Ever since their creation, both clubs have been the top clubs in the Egyptian Premier League, the country's top-flight football league. In the first half of the twentieth century. ^[3] Ahly won their first league title when the Egyptian Premier League was first created in the 1948-49 season and won 36 domestic titles after that. Zamalek managed to win the league 11 times and came second to Al-Ahly in the number of Egyptian Premier League titles won.

The largest winning margin in this derby was 6-0 for Zamalek for two times, The first was in 1942 Cairo League, The Second was in 1944 Egypt Cup Final.

'The Ground:Both Ahly And Zamalek share the same stadium,In witch in derbie matches between the two teams are played,The stadium is divided into half, on half is Red(Ahly)and another half in white(Zamalek).This Old Derby is regarded as one of the world's Fiercest derbies and the fiercest derby in Africa.

Fans of both clubs can be violent when in anger. Numerous fights, injuries and deaths have been reported before matters became more controlled due to Egypt's authoritarian regime. Yet many fights and riots still occur after derby matches between both sets of fans, leading the government to post even higher numbers of Central Security Forces troops in the stadium during the derby. The number of fights have increased with the increasing popularity of the "ultras" movement.^[4]

In 2008, World Soccer Magazine selected the Cairo Derby as the 8th most fierce derby in the world.^[5]

The Meetings

this meeting are the meetings in the League

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Player	Team	Goals
Mohamed Aboutrika	Al Ahly	13
Emad Motaeb	Al Ahly	10
Hossam Hassan*	Al Ahly El Zamalek	9
Alaa El Hamouly	Al Zamalek	8
Saleh Selim	Al Ahly	8
Toto	Al Ahly	8

• Hossam Hassan scored 5 goals for El Ahly and 4 goals for El Zamalek.

Honours

Crossing the divide

Due to the rivalry between the clubs, relatively few players have played for both Ahly and Zamalek. Some of the players who have done so are listed below

• Gamal Hamza signed for Al Ahly and left by mutual consent without playing any game.

References

1. ↑ http://www.angelfire.com/ak/EgyptianSports/ZamVsAhlyCairoLeague02011942.html
2. ↑ http://www.angelfire.com/ak/EgyptianSports/ZamVsAhlyCupFinal1944.html
3. ↑ Grant Wahl, American Pharaoh: Ex-U.S. coach Bradley has Egypt on brink of World Cup, Sports Illustrated, Published 9 October 2013, Retrieved 10 October 2013.
4. ↑ Shenker, Jack (28 June 2011). "New Egypt sees old sporting rivalry resume". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2011. 
5. ↑ "World Soccer’s 50 Greatest Derbies". World Soccer. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 

External links

• Zamalek - Al Ahly (Results), Football Derbies
• Cairo derby divides an entire nation, Reuters
• Cairo giants get ready for battle, FIFA official website
• Egypt's big two meet in showdown, FIFA official website
• Cairo's ancient rivalry (Arabic)