JEDDAH: Egyptian expatriates and their supporters, after a tense five minutes to game time, erupted into a vociferous celebrations soon after their national team performed the three-peat by beating Ghana 1-0 in 27th African Nations Cup — Angola 2010.
Egypt, with this victory, shattered two major records in the event by becoming the only side to rack up the championship seven times while also making it three times in a row (2008, 2009 and 2010).
It was a welcome victory for Egyptians, who just missed out from the trip to the World Cup in South Africa. Though it might have been small consolation for some, for the Egyptians, particularly those in Jeddah, it was a ‘world cup’ win of their own in Angola.
Delirious Egyptians rushed into the streets from homes and cafes, draped in the national flag, celebrating the unique achievement of three titles in a row with some riding their cars with a staccato beat of the horns. The intermittent sound of the rhythmic horns could be heard in various parts of the city.
Cries of “Egypt, Egypt” were heard soon after the final whistle, while some Egyptians carried the national flag and shouted out in unison the names of Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata and the supersub Muhammad Gedo, whose goal proved to be the match winner.
Mahmoud Faisal Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi fan, said Egypt is the best team in the Arab world. “This is no doubt the best team ever in the history of the Egyptian teams. I am very proud of the Egyptian team and I supported them as if the Saudi team was playing. They deserved to qualify for the World Cup. The beat every single team that qualified for the World Cup here — first Cameroon, Algeria and finally Ghana.”
Ahmad Temsah, an Egyptian national working in a private printing establishment, said that they did not doubt that Shehata’s squad would keep the Cup. “Despite the sensitivity between us and Algeria in the semifinal match, we managed to be realistic, focused on the task and achieved our goal. The key behind Egypt’s win is that they respected every team they played against. The whole Arab world was united behind us because we play good football. We proved to the whole world that the match against Algeria in the World Cup qualifier was one bad outing for the Egyptians and a lucky match for the Algerians.”
Sayed Ghadi, working in an advertising agency in Jeddah, described that the win as special. He said that winning the cup achieved more than one goal. One, we got revenge against Algeria and two, we set the record of winning three times in a row and seven times overall.”
Muhsin Awadh, an Egyptian fan, said that he had promised all his friends in office that he would bring sweets to celebrate the achievement and tomorrow (Monday) I’ll keep my promise.
