Red-hot Egyptian cauldron not for the faint-hearted

DERBY DAYS Cairo derby:According to Scottish referee Hugh Dallas, Glasgow's Old firm derby pales in comparison to the clash between Egypt and Cairo's top clubs, writes Damian Cullen

Al-Ahly v Zamalek

ON MAY 2nd, 1999, Hugh Dallas stood between Celtic and Rangers. The referee struggled to keep a lid on the red-hot atmosphere at Celtic Park (the home side needed to win to prevent their rivals taking the league title) incensing the majority by sending off Stephane Mahe during the first half.

More dubious decisions followed and, as Celtic's season slipped away, so too did discipline on and off the field. Several Celtic fans made it on to the field and Dallas was struck on the forehead by a coin thrown from the crowd. Within a minute of getting back on his feet, he awarded Rangers a controversial penalty. The game had entered meltdown.

In the days following the ugly derby, Dallas's home was attacked, with windows broken.

Subsequently, Dallas was asked if it was the hardest derby match he had ever been involved in - a question that surely didn't even require an answer.

However, Dallas didn't hesitate, pointing out that the Glasgow clash wasn't even the toughest match he had officiated that season. Instead, he pointed to a derby he had refereed a few months before that game.

By the late 1990s, Dallas had earned a reputation as a no-nonsense referee, capable of making hard decisions, a highly valued trait in the unpopular world of high-profile referees.

When Macedonia were drawn to play Croatia, Uefa turned to Dallas. And in 1998, when no native referee would touch the Cairo derby, The Egyptian FA turned to Uefa for help, who again thought of Dallas.

He would only be needed for one day - November 8th. Such was the atmosphere in Cairo in the days before the game Dallas and his Scottish linesmen were to be flown in and out of Cairo on the same day - under assumed names.

"The clubs are the Old Firm of Egypt," Dallas said later. "There were just under 100,000 fans in the national stadium and the game had to be stopped a couple of times when missiles were thrown. But, on the whole, it went quite smoothly."

In fact, one of the linesmen only narrowly avoided being hit on the head by a brick, though the game certainly went a little more smoothly than another meeting that year, in which French referee Mark Batta sent off a Zamalek player after just two minutes for a dreadful tackle from behind on an Al Ahly player. The Zamalek players walked off the field in protest. It was the fourth Cairo derby to be abandoned.

In Dallas's game, Zamalek won 2-1 and, two years later, he was brought back to referee another derby, which Zamalek again won, this time 3-1. The atmosphere, if anything, was worse this time because the game marked the first tie Hossam Hassan and his twin brother, Ibrahim, played for Zamalek since their controversial transfer from Al-Ahly.

Hossam, at the time, was the world's most capped player and had been a legend at Al-Ahly during 15 years with the club. His transfer caused a similar controversy to that occasioned by Luís Figo's move to Real Madrid from Barcelona the previous year.

Dallas arrived in the middle a media frenzy, with Hassan announcing his international retirement before the game because of the grievances he had with the local media.

After Hassan's second goal against his former club, Ibrahim ran to the fence that separated the players from the media and shook it, hurling abuse, and, apparently, spitting at the press.

The supporters responded to the goals by hurling cans in the direction of the players. The twins and the Ahly fans were later fined for their behaviour, as was the Ahly coach, Mokhtar Mokhtar, for trying to attack Dallas.

Afterwards, Hassan cried during a television interview and said he regretted scoring the two goals in Zamalek's 3-1 victory.

Celtic fans may remember Hossam Hassan who, in between two long spells with Al-Ahly, played for Swiss club Neuchâtel Xamax FC (of Don Givens fame) and scored four goals in a 5-1 humiliation of Liam Brady's Celtic (Tommy Coyne scored the goal) in a 1991 Uefa Cup second round tie.

Hassan was certainly one of the reasons why the Confederation of African Football (CAF) named Al-Ahly in 2000 as Africa's club of the 20th century. The club has won the domestic league crown 33 times - including the last four titles - the Egypt Cup 35 times and, most notably, the African Champions League five times, three arriving this decade.

They are far more successful than their rivals who are based in the Giza part of Cairo. They were founded in 1911 by Belgian El Zayat with the express purpose of providing a rival for Al-Ahly. They have claimed the Egyptian Premier League title 11 times and the cup on 21 occasions, but crucially for the pride of the club, they have claimed the Champions League trophy on five occasions (the last in 2002) tieing with their neighbours as the two most successful clubs in Africa.

It makes this weekend's clash all the more important.

The two Cairo sides qualified for the last eight stage of Africa's Champions League (the season runs from February to November) which involved two groups of four, with the top two from each qualifying for the semi-finals.

In the same group, Al-Ahly beat Zamalek 2-1 last July and are currently, after four games, sitting top of the group with 10 points. Zamalek are third, one point behind ASEC Mimosas, of Côte d'Ivoire, who have five points.

Before the following weekend's final group games, victory for Zamalek this Sunday is necessary to keep alive their chances of qualifying for the Champions League semi-finals.

They have had to plan without Amr Zaki, who has moved to Wigan on loan and has scored three goals in the English Premier League already this season.

Instead, Zamalek are putting their faith in Junior Agogo, the former Nottingham Forest striker, who moved to Egypt in July. Agogo is about to find out this derby is nothing like Notts Forest versus Notts County.

Al-Ahly v Zamalek

Cairo International Stadium

Sunday, 10pm (local time) 9pm (Irish-time)