Egypt
1999-2000

1-Maaden
2-Taiaran
3-Somouha
4-Senbellawain
5-Helwan
6-Sayeda Zeinab
 

Semi Finals
Maaden 8 - 0 Quaisna
Taiaran 1 - 1 Somouha (Taiaran won 4-2 on Pens)

Final
Maaden 5 - 0 Taiaran

report from Middle East Times

Al Maaden women's soccer team clinched the title of Egypt's Cup tournament when they beat Al Tiran in the final game at Port Said Sporting Stadium.

The win brought misery to over 2,000 boisterous Al Tiran fans who had packed the stands for the final match on September 8.

Al Maaden have now won the tournament for the second consecutive time. They won the game decisively, beating their rivals Al Tiran with a crushing 5-0 victory. Al Tiran was in fact seeded to win the title, because of their good results throughout the tournament.

It was the fourth "summit" meeting between these two clubs. The game started quietly, the weather was calm, the fans were quiet and the game itself was passive.

Before the game started, Al Tiran felt that if the first half passed safely, Al Maaden would loss control, and would be vulnerable to an attack.

In line with their strategy, Al Tiran set up a tight defense, and Al Maaden, winner of the last Arab Soccer Championship, was unable to find any way to penetrate it. Even stars like Wessam Othman were stymied.

The main danger came to Al Tiran 10 minutes into the game. Al Maaden defender Angie Muhammad sent the "Princess of the Pitch" Sarah Hassanein a snaking pass down the pitch, where she had an open road to the goal.

The left-footed Hassanein tricked the goalkeeper Samah Abdel Ghafour and kicked the ball with her right foot into the left side of the net, scoring the first goal for Al Maaden.

In the lead, Al Maaden head coach Ashraf Tawfiq told his squad to continue the attack, and their opponents lost control.

Four minutes later, a penalty kick was awarded to Al Maaden, when Al Maaden attacker Wessam Othman was tackled on her way into the penalty box.

Hassanein needed to score one more goal to win the tournament's cup for the most points, so coach Tawfiq picked Hassanein to shoot.

"I was really scared when I was asked to take care of the penalty kick," Hassanein said.

"But when I was moving toward the ball I had a strong feeling I would score," she added. Hassanein also scored the second goal to finish the first half with a 2-nil lead for Al Maaden.

Seven minutes into the second half, no one expected that the "Princess of the Pitch" would score a hat-trick. But to the delight of the Al Maaden fans, her third goal powered through the defense from the right side of the penalty box.

Five minutes later, her teammate Amany Rashid scored the fourth.

In a desperate attempt to save the game, Al Tiran made three attacking substitutes at once, but none of them were at their best.

Five minutes before the end, Hassanein scored yet another stunning goal. She received the ball from a teammate defender and proceeded to make her way through every single defender including the goalkeeper, to score her fourth goal and the fifth for Al Maaden.

Hassanein became the first Egyptian in soccer history to score four goals in a final of any soccer tournament.

After the game, Al Maaden captain Wessam Othman received the tournament's trophy, and Hassanein received the cup for the tournament's best scorer, having scored seven goals in all.

"This is not the end of my dreams," Hassanein said. "My life time dream is to be the first Egyptian female soccer player to play professionally outside of Egypt." Hassanein was the only Arab playing for the All Star FIFA team last year.

After the game, Egyptian Soccer Federation officials announced that the new women's soccer season will start on September 29 with Egypt's league tournament.