Egypt's Victory in African Cup

So, the source of this story actually goes back a little bit.

Back in November, Egypt's national football (soccer) team was defeated by Algeria in a match that would decide who would qualify for the World Cup that is coming up in 2010 in South Africa. In the aftermath of the game's results, some pretty ridiculous things went on-- Egyptian fans were injured after the game, Egypt claimed the Algerians played dirty, and it actually even resulted in the official calling back of the Egyptian ambassador (is ambassador capitalized?) from Algeria for a "consultation".

The violence that did ensue after the game was the talk of Cairo for a week or so, making most of the local papers with editorials that sought to find the source of such an obsession over football. Some commentators went as far as to speculate that it was one of the things that separated less-developed nations from developed nations. In Europe, they would say, people get very excited and roused about football, but it never descends into a crisis on a national level, never to the level of diplomacy. Never the same kind of rioting in the streets, and burning of buildings.

Others chose to focus on the notion that there is no appropriate arena for freedom of speech in the Middle East because of oppressive and corrupt governments. People here cannot assemble freely, or organize protests for any reason. Football provides an outlet for much of the pent up aggression of the people, and thus it bubbles up to a point where it becomes a national problem.

In any event, during the 2010 African Cup of Nations, it turned out that Egypt had a chance to play Algeria again, in the semifinal match.

Egypt has won the last two consecutive African Cup of Nations Tournament, and winning the one in 2010 would be a record, both for most consecutive wins and overall wins.

In a great match, Egypt swept Algeria 4-0. Algerian players also accumulated an astonishing 3 red cards. Egypt felt that they got the revenge that they deserved, by first showing that they are the true ones who should be qualified in the World Cup, and also after the red cards now everyone would see how dirty they play.

The whole thing has certainly been blown out of proportion; but, interestingly enough, my roommate did tell me that during a football match was the only time in which all Egyptians truly felt united. During this time, and this time only, he tells me, it doesn't matter whether you are Christian or Muslim, young or old, man or woman.

Egypt has experienced religious tensions over recent years, a fact highlighted most recently by the tragedy in Nag Hammadi. You can read about what happened there, and a piece talking about the under-the-surface religious tensions in Egypt here.

After the game was over, we all went into the streets to party like crazy. I was hoisted on some dude's shoulders, an Egyptian I'd never seen before in my life, with a friend's Egyptian flag and was pranced around on the street, as you see above. People lit off fireworks, the streets were blocked for miles and miles. It was an entire city of 20 million people having one big party.

As for me? I'm finishing up with my private Arabic lessons and am about to begin research on my actual topic....chances are the next post will have something to do with that, but it may be a week or so before I post again.

Iskandar