The dispute between Egypt and Algeria over World Cup qualifiers played in Cairo and Khartoum should never have happened. Both countries should have taken a united stand against football’s worldwide scourge — hooliganism. Being an enthusiastic fan is one thing, but it’s quite another to translate that natural enthusiasm into violence against players and supporters. Such behavior does not equate to patriotism. It’s simply a stain on a nation’s reputation and discredits the sport itself.

Intense rivalry between two sides fiercely competing for a World Cup place that has eluded them for decades is understandable. But that competitive spirit should revolve around players’ skills and tenacity rather than who can throw the biggest rocks, shout the loudest invective, or burn the most flags.

A lot of people got hurt in this debacle. After their bus was hit by projectiles in Cairo, images of Algerian players with blood streaming down their faces were captured on a mobile phone while some 20 more Algerians were attacked in Egypt.

Then, during a spate of tit-for-tat attacks, Egyptian businesses in the Algerian capital were trashed — including Orascom, owned by billionaire Naguib Sawaris — and ordinary Egyptians were attacked in southern Algeria as well as in Sudan.

It’s unfortunate, too, that Egyptians heading for the Algerian Embassy in Cairo to vent their ire saw fit to smash shop windows and damage cars that belong to their compatriots. If Algeria was the object of their displeasure then their motive for destroying and using insecticide to fire Egyptian-owned property escapes me.

The fact is that hooligans of whatever nationality don’t require a motive. All they need is a flimsy excuse to inflict their pent-up aggression on anyone and anything that happens to cross their path. Yet, very often, because they are perceived by authorities as football fans rather than anti-government elements or religious extremists, they get away with it.

It’s unfortunate that neither side has made any effort to be conciliatory. On the contrary, one Algerian player told the Egyptians something on the lines of ‘Shut-up, we won, so get over it!’ In the meantime, instead of offering recompense to Orascom, that employs thousands of Algerians and services 10 million mobile subscribers, the Algerian authorities chose this sensitive moment to slap the multi-national with a $ 600 million bill for back taxes.

Egypt responded by recalling its ambassador to Algiers for “consultations” and warning that it will not allow its citizens to be harmed or humiliated. Even Sudan has jumped into the melee by summoning Egypt’s envoy in Khartoum to protest reports in the Egyptian media maligning its security arrangements.

It would be a great shame if this bitterness were allowed to fester. It’s actually much ado about nothing, although most Egyptians and Algerians don’t see it that way. For them, their national pride is at stake although, in reality, there should be no pride in mindless violence committed by crazed hooligans; national or otherwise. National pride does not reside in the abilities of over-paid, trumped-up youth to kick a ball into a net. It should, instead, rest in a country’s technological, scientific, medical, artistic, literary, educational, architectural and economic achievements along with the standard of living enjoyed by its people, its record of human rights and the humanitarian values upon which it stands. When future historians write of our era, they won’t be appraising nations based on the number of football matches won. In the great scheme of things, last week’s play-offs have less meaning than a single reed floating down a stream.

In the end, football is just a game that has been turned into the new opiate of the masses. It generally offers the opportunity for people to blow off steam in a controlled environment. It gives man an outlet for his inherent warlike instincts. It’s entertaining, exciting and fun. But it’s not brain surgery.

When Arab history is writ, it will feature such names as Dr. Magdy Yacoub, Ben Bella, Gamal Abdul Nasser, Anwar Sadat, King Abdul Aziz, Yasser Arafat, Ahmed Zewail, Naguib Mahfouz, Umm Kulthum, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Battuta. In 50 years time, will anyone even remember the names Mohamed Zidan or Antar Yahia? This isn’t meant to demean these excellent Egyptian and Algerian players; rather to put their achievements into perspective.

The mesmerizing effect that soccer has on populaces around the world is worrying. It sends them to sleep in such a way that they are immune to serious issues. This was particularly evident in Egypt when Israel invaded Lebanon in the summer of 2006 when televisions in Cairo cafes were invariably tuned to Zamalek-Al Ahli matches on local stations rather than satellite news channels. It was a similar story when Gaza was being bombed last winter. Where was the outrage on the so-called Arab street then? Where was the national pride when women and children were being incinerated? At a time when Arab unity has rarely been as crucial, Algerians and Egyptians need to rearrange their priorities.

This tiff has been greatly overblown and should be buried sooner rather than later. Both countries share so much. Both are predominately Muslim. Both are Arab. Both are African and both are battling religious extremism. They share a history of foreign occupation and revolution. They should remember how they came together to free Algeria from the French yoke and how they fought side by side during the 1973 war with Israel. Are they seriously going to allow soccer thugs to tear them apart? As someone who has lived for extensive periods in both countries when I had the opportunity make so many cherished Algerian and Egyptian friends, I feel personally pained at this growing divide over nothing. If they only knew it both peoples have so much in common in terms of family values, hospitality, warmth, generosity and good humor. They also share a hot-tempered nature when they feel their dignity has been impugned, which is the driving force behind the current contretemps.

Their Arab friends should work toward reconciling the two parties once the heat of the moment has dissipated. In the words of President Anwar Sadat, “There can be hope only for a society which acts as one big family, not as many separate ones.”