The best of 2022

The year 2022 was a successful one for most of the teams we are dealing with. Bourj FC, Cusco FC and especially Total Soccer achieved very good results, Fayoum SC classified mid-table as usual, while 1. FK Svidník miraculously remained in the Third Division. At the opposite end, OFK Tryavna was suspended by the Bulgarian Football Union, and a phoenix club, FK Tryavna 1922, emerged in summer to take its place in Gabrovo Regional League. Pepiniere FC and Maaraba SC saw no action this year.

The only team that played in the top league of their country, Bourj FC, succeeded to classify third in the 2021-2022 Lebanese League, which equals their best result ever. The 2022-2023 season started very well, with a winning streak, but results got poorer towards the end of the year, and they finished only fifth in the final table of the regular season. However, Bourj FC qualified for the championship play-offs to be played in 2023, and the gaps are very small, so they might be able to achieve a good performance in 2022-2023 as well.

Cusco FC were relegated to the Peruvian Second Division in the beginning of 2022, as a consequence of a CAS decision. This was their first season in the Second Division ever, after 10 years in the top flight. They promoted to the Peruvian First Division in 2011 by winning Copa Peru. In the Second Division, Cusco FC dominated clearly the competition, winning both tournaments, Apertura and Clausura, and promoted back to the First Division without the need for a play-off.

Fayoum SC had a regular 2021-2022 season in the Egyptian Second Division, with the usual change of managers. There was some stress regarding relegation, but the team eventually finished in a comfortable ninth position. The 2022-2023 is however different, as they have to classify among the top five (or six) to get a place in the future Second Division A. The start of the season was rather poor and they are classified only in 13th place after 12 rounds (almost half of the season), with slim chances to get to the needed upper places in the table. Not impossible though.

The best performance of the year 2022 came from Total Soccer, which participated for the first time in the Colombian Primera C, the third tier in Colombia, and the highest league available for amateur teams. They succeeded to win the competition (which involved hundreds of teams), after some dramatic matches in the knock-out rounds.

1. FK Svidník had a very good second half of the 2021-2022 season, but only classified 11th, which seemed not enough to participate in the new format of the Slovakian Third League. However, they were eventually allowed to participate. They are now struggling to survive in this new league, with a lot of stronger teams than before.

OFK Tryavna were suspended by the Bulgarian Football Union in March 2022, when they were leaders of the Gabrovo Regional League and were heading towards promotion to the Bulgarian Third League. The decision came as a big surprise, as many other clubs were suspended too, for participating in an allegedly illegal meeting organized by Dimitar Berbatov, the opposition candidate to the presidency of the Bulgarian Football Union. The club had to reorganize, and a phoenix club was born in summer 2022, named FK Tryavna 1922, which enrolled in the 2022-2023 Gabrovo Regional League. They are now leaders in the league after half season, and are looking forward to promotion in the Third League.

Pepiniere FC did not enrol in any competition in 2022. There were talks to change their name into Kamonyi FC and to become a team supported by Kamonyi regional government, and to enrol in the 2022-2023 Rwandan Second Division as such. However, nothing came out of it, as the 2022-2023 Rwandan Second Division started without either Pepiniere FC or Kamonyi FC.

The same holds true for Maaraba SC, whose football team was inactive in 2022.

Best team

Total Soccer

 

Best performance

Total Soccer - Equipo Azul 2-1 (second leg of the Colombian Primera C final)

Best manager

Pablo Peirano (Cusco FC)

Best player

Khaled Takaji (Bourj FC)

La Viena FC wins local derby over Fayoum SC and gets closer to the lead

Fayoum SC - La Viena FC 1-2 (1-2)

Mahmoud Sami 33' - Mohamed Kito 40', Ayman Mocka 43'.

Friday, 30 December 2022, 2:30 pm local time (12:30 pm UTC), Alassiouty Sport Resort, Fayoum, Egypt, the 12th round of the Egyptian Second Division, Group A.

Fayoum SC were unable to build upon their win away at KIMA Aswan and lost to La Viena FC, a team looking up for promotion to the Egyptian Premier League. Fayoum were officially "hosts", but Alassiouty Sport Resort is the home ground for both teams, and even more, La Viena is the team of the ground owner, so they are actually more at home than Fayoum, whose real home ground, Fayoum Stadium, has been closed since 2017.

La Viena started the match in a very offensive manner, with a series of corner kicks, which led to their first chances, the ball hitting the side posts twice (2' and 13'). Fayoum goalkeeper, Mohamad Kandil, impressively saved a shot from inside the box to keep a clean sheet (29').

Fayoum, which seldom crossed the half line of the field, took unexpectedly the lead, after a long ball, which reached Mohamad Jamal "Bebo". He succeeded to protect the ball, and launched El Sayed Lotfy on the right, whose cross found Mahmoud Sami near the far post. Mahmoud Sami had the time to control the ball and to shoot precisely, with a slight help of a deflection: 1-0 (33').

The match was decided in the final minutes of the first half, when La Viena turned the result in their favour. First, a cross from the left side reached a dangerous area in the box, right in front of the goal, and Mohamed Kito was there to push the ball in: 1-1 (40'). Almost immediately after, Ayman Mocka executed tremendously a free kick from the right side, finding the far upper corner of the goal when everybody expected a cross: 2-1 (43').

La Viena FC players celebrating the goals. Source: number1.news

Fayoum started the second half very strongly, while La Viena took a defensive stance. The Fayoum attacks did have a result, as the referee gave a penalty to Fayoum for a handball inside the box (55'). La Viena players and staff protested in vain, the decision stayed. However, Mohamed Jamal "Bebo" did not score, his powerful shot hitting the crossbar (57'). This is not the first penalty missed by Fayoum SC this season.

The match was very fragmented in the second half, with few other actions that deserve to be mentioned. On breaks, La Viena reached the opposite box dangerously on several occasions, but their shots were blocked by Mohamad Kandil. Instead of focusing on scoring and solving the match defintively, La Viena players preferred time wasting. Fayoum players did everything in their power to equalize, but had few real chances, because their opponents defended well.

Starting line-ups:

Fayoum: Mohamad Kandil - Islam Lamouna, Hamad Hassan, Islam Ramadan, Ahmad Gamal - El Sayed Lotfy, Ahmad Koshary, Mahmoud Sami, Mahmoud Arafat - Salah Rifaat, Mohamed Jamal "Bebo". Manager: Khaled Eino.

La Viena: Kameni - Amr Yahya, Mahmoud Halawani, Muhamad Gebs, Alaa Marcelo - Hisham Neymar, Qasem Rabie, Ahmed Scholes, Ayman Mocka - Marawan Maro, Mohamed Kito. Manager: George Galidi.

In the next round, after the New Years' Eve, La Viena will face Al Nasr Lel Taa'den at home, while Fayoum will have a very tough match away, at leaders Asyut Petroleum.

Full results, table and fixtures:

 

Round 12 (29-30 December 2022)

 

El Gouna – Al Madina Al Monawara 3-1

Asyut Cement – Aluminium 1-0

Tamya – Naser Mallawi 1-1

Telephonat – Dayrout 1-1

Al Nasr Lel Taa’den – KIMA Aswan 0-0

Shoban M. Qena – Asyut Petroleum 0-2

El Minya – Misr Lel Makkasa 2-1

Fayoum – La Viena 1-2

 

Table

 

1	Asyut Petroleum	12	8	3	1	21-7	27	Promotion to the Premier League
2	La Viena	12	8	2	2	22-10	26	Qualification for Second Division A
3	Misr Lel Makkasa	12	7	4	1	18-9	25	Qualification for Second Division A
4	El Gouna	12	7	3	2	21-10	24	Qualification for Second Division A
5	Al Nasr Lel Taa’den	12	5	4	3	16-12	19	Qualification for Second Division A
6	Asyut Cement	12	5	1	6	15-18	16	Play-off Second Division A / B
7	Aluminium	12	4	3	5	13-12	15	Qualification for Second Division B
8	Dayrout	12	3	5	4	14-13	14	Qualification for Second Division B
9	Naser Mallawi	12	3	5	4	11-18	14	Qualification for Second Division B
10	El Minya	11	3	4	4	10-12	13	Qualification for Second Division B
11	Tamya	12	3	4	5	9-13	13	Qualification for Second Division B
12	KIMA Aswan	12	3	4	5	10-19	13	Qualification for Second Division B
13	Fayoum	12	2	6	4	12-15	12	Qualification for Second Division B
14	Telephonat	12	2	4	6	8-16	10	Qualification for Second Division B
15	Shoban M. Qena	11	2	3	6	11-14	9	Qualification for Second Division B
16	Al Madina Al Monawara	12	1	3	8	11-24	6	Relegation to the Third Division

 

In case that two or more teams are equal on points, the main ranking criteria are the results of the head-to-head matches.

 

Round 13 (4-5 January 2023)

 

Dayrout – Asyut Cement

Aluminium – El Minya

Asyut Petroleum – Fayoum

Naser Mallawi – Shoban M. Qena

Tamya – El Gouna

Misr Lel Makkasa – Al Madina Al Monawara

KIMA Aswan – Telephonat

La Viena – Al Nasr Lel Taa’den