{"id":3119,"date":"2022-01-23T16:06:58","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T16:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/?p=3119"},"modified":"2022-04-09T20:09:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T19:09:14","slug":"egypts-african-jewel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/2022\/01\/23\/egypts-african-jewel\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt\u2019s African Jewel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (January 22nd<\/sup> 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egypt\u2019s Precious Jewel<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Taha Ismail is just shy of his 83rd<\/sup> birthday. The former Al-Ahly forward and Egyptian legend still works in football. When I was last in Egypt I had the privilege of his interviewing him. I hoped to see him in Cameroon being celebrated and cherished by African football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, that can\u2019t happen. He is working in Egypt covering and analysing its league cup. He\u2019s a mine of great stories. He once suffered a broken leg in a collision with Ghana\u2019s then goalkeeper, Edward Dodoo-Ankrah. While working as a FIFA instructor in Ghana many years later, there was a loud knock on the door. A very big Ghanaian was at the door. It was the goalkeeper. \u201cI\u2019m very sorry,\u201d Dodoo-Ankrah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ismail burst out laughing. It had taken Dodoo-Ankrah 35 years to apologise. Aged just 20, the Al-Ahly forward helped Egypt (then known as United Arab Republic due to a short-lived union with Syria) to retain their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title. They were the first nation to do so in a tournament then restricted to three of the founder members as South Africa had been suspended due to their racist policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Charming Man<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ismail told me of the plight of his brother. It was a sad story. His plight was very sad. I wanted to help, but my Arabic is limited to \u2018shukran.\u2019 It proved impossible to get to see him and help him \u2013 he surely deserved it. It was typical of Ismail that his concern was for his brother. I asked about him today, hoping something could be done. Sadly, it is too late. He has passed away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohamed Abdel-latif El-Sherbiny (Mimi el-Sherbini) as he was affectionately known. Egypt scored six goals to win the tournament. The late great Mohamed el-Gohary netted a hat-trick in the 4-1 win against Ethiopia \u2013 Mimi scored the other. Essam Baheeg bagged a brace to seal the UAR\u2019s AFCON win \u2013 only Egyptians played for the UAR in that tournament. After hanging up his boots Mimi distinguished himself as a commentator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ismail and Mimi are the last survivors (unless someone knows otherwise) of the 1959 AFCON winners \u2013 at least those who played in the tournament. They are the last of these African gems and should be treasured and honoured by CAF and Africa. Ismail is also a rare thing for an Egyptian \u2013 a Liverpool supporter long before Mohamed Salah ever played for the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taha Ismail should never walk alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (January 22nd 2022) Egypt\u2019s Precious Jewel Taha Ismail is just shy of his 83rd birthday. The former Al-Ahly forward and [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[125,88,124,128,126,127,122,123],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3119"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3331,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119\/revisions\/3331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}