Egypt have been one of the leading
lights in African Volleyball since
they won the African Nations
Championship in 1983 to qualify for
the Los Angeles Olympic Games in
1984, where they finished 10th.
The next appearance of the Egyptians
in the Summer Games was at the
Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, where
they finishing 11th, They
succeeded in advancing to the Summer
Games in Beijing once again in 2008
by beating Algeria in a pulsating
five-set final in Durban, South
Africa, to win the African Olympic
Qualification Tournament with a 100
percent record.
From 2005 to 2007, the team has
started to reap the benefits of the
plan to constantly feed and
rejuvenate with up-and-coming youth
and junior players.
A hot streak of form started in 2005
when Egypt won the golden medal in
Mediterranean Games in Almaria,
Spain. They then claimed the African
Nations Championship to qualify for
the 2005 World Grand Champions Cup
in Japan.
Nowadays, Egypt can lay claim to be
the best African nation, considering
their participation in the 2006,
2007 and 2008 World League.
An appearance in the 2006 World
Championship in Japan supports this
claim.
In 2007, the team further proved
their worth by winning all matches
in the All African Games, also
winning the 2007 African Nations and
qualifying for 2007 World Cup in
Japan.
At the World Cup, Egypt, whose ranks
are usually dominated with players
from the mighty Al Ahly Club,
stepped up a level and was highly
competitive against world-class
teams. The North Africans won their
last three matches to finish in
ninth place, an excellent result for
an African Volleyball team.
They were inspired by captain Hamdy
Awad (Elsafi) and exciting young
attacking talent Ahmed Abd Elnaeim
(A. Salah).
As of January 5, 2008, Egypt ranked
14th in the FIVB World Ranking is
14. Their previous position was
18th.
The team has made a huge leap in the
last few years. The ambition now is
to reach an even higher level and
become one of the world’s top
teams. |
|
 Ahmed
Zakaria became Egypt Men's Head
Coach in 2005 but has been a
familiar face on the Egyptian
Volleyball scene for many years as
he was one of the most famous
Volleyball players in Egypt in the
1980s.
Zakaria was a highly skilled middle
blocker for the mighty "Al Ahly,"
the dominant Club team in Egypt.
Zakaria also enjoyed a 10-year
career for the Egyptian National
team from 1980 till 1990 and was
member of the golden generation
which won the African Nations
Championship in 1983 to qualify for
the Los Angeles Olympic Games in
1984.
After Zakaria retired from playing,
he started his coaching career with
the Al Ahly Youth Team.
He then coached in the United Arab
Emirates, Al Ahly and Petrojet.
In 1999 he was appointed Assistant
Coach of the Egyptian National Team
which defeated archrivals Tunisia to
qualify for the Sydney Olympic Games
in 2000.
He took courses in Data Volley and
worked in this field for three years
before returning to the Egyptian
National Team in January 2005 as
Assistant Coach to the famous
Serbian Vecelin Vukovic.
Under Vukovic’s supervision, the
Egyptians achieved historic success,
starting with qualification for the
2006 World Championship in Japan.
They then won the gold medal at the
15th Mediterranean Games in Spain
before winning the African Nations
Championship in Cairo to qualify for
the 2005 Grand Champions Cup in
Japan.
At this point, Zakaria stepped in to
take over as Head Coach for the
Grand Champions Cup when Vukovic retired.
Egypt finished fifth at the Grand
Champions Cup and then, in 2007 at
the World Cup in Japan, Zakaria led
his team to three victories
including one against a strong
Australian team.
Zakaria's most recent success is
leading Egypt to victory at the
African Olympic Games Qualification
Tournament. They defeated top
African teams Tunisia, Algeria and
Cameroon to qualify for the Beijing
Games. |
FIVB World
League 2008
EGY / - Team
Composition
