Two weeks left before Egypt plays one of the most important and most difficult games in its football history. A few notes in the lead-up to the Nov. 14 collision with Algeria are worth considering.
Did you ever see a player picked to play even though he cannot? Now you have. Veteran defender Wael Gomaa is included in the squad despite being suspended for the World Cup qualifier after garnering two yellow cards. The guess is coach Hassan Shehata wants the all-star present on the bench to instill confidence in his teammates, although it would have made more sense to bring in somebody who can actually be on the field. We will already have 77,000 cheerleaders in the stands.
Eleven Algerian players entered the penultimate game against Rwanda with a yellow card. One more yellow card to any one of them would have disqualified them from playing against Egypt, yet not a single Algerian soul was yellow carded. That was a real Houdini getting out of a jam.
Egypt is training in hot Aswan while Algeria in the much cooler climes of France. The two are trying to get as far away as possible from the fulcrum of battle, which is understandable, but if the idea is to acclimatize themselves to a temperature similar to what weather conditions will be like by mid-November, at that time of year Cairo Stadium will be neither hot nor cold. The forecast is mild.
Because of its hugeness, the game should have been played in Borg Al-Arab Stadium. Borg Al-Arab is 3,000 fans bigger than Cairo Stadium, but more importantly it s not too close to any of Egypt s major cities, around 35 kilometers from Alexandria. Due to safety concerns, it would have been better to play this game far from populated centers, in an arena that can be contained securely, because Egypt could erupt if Algeria wins.
Already many Egyptians are boiling after an Algerian newspaper published a photograph of Shehata wearing a superimposed wedding gown and getting married to a man; a number of Algerian websites showed an Algerian flag planted firmly atop the Pyramids; another site put the faces of Egyptian actresses on the numbered jerseys of Egypt s national team; filmed footage of a young Algerian gang burning a t-shirt that had Egypt written on it circulated. Egyptian media are trying to stay above the fray but veins are bulging.
In reply, the case of Lakhdar Belloumi is once again brought to the fore by our media people. But let s get it straight once and for all; it was not Belloumi who blinded an Egyptian doctor with a broken bottle when a fight broke out between the players in the 1989 World Cup qualifier. The culprit was the third-string goalkeeper. For 20 years, Interpol has been looking for the wrong man. Yes, the doctor s eye was gouged out, and yes, it was an Algerian who did it, but it was not Belloumi who at his time was favorably compared to the likes of Maradona and Michel Platini.
Some people say we re coming from behind, that after a bad start we won three straight, including a tough one in Zambia, to get within shooting distance of the World Cup when at one time not so long go it looked hopeless. So we have the momentum.
Others say they re coming from behind, that Algeria was a long shot from the start. Yet where are they now? On top, three points ahead of Egypt, having scored more goals and let in fewer. And they beat us 3-1 in the first leg. So they have the momentum.
Both sides are correct. The two teams are plunging headlong into this unparalleled encounter, each one claiming they have an ordained right to a World Cup ticket.
If Egypt wins by a two-goal margin, a deciding game, to be played on Nov. 18 in a yet undetermined venue, is needed. But nobody on either side is talking about such a playoff, as if it s a sin to even think that either might lose. But there very well could be an extra game, requiring a whole new set of strategies. Coaches Shehata and Rabah Saadane might be examining what to do in the event of a winner-takes-all match, however, for the rest of us, the very thought of thinking in advance is, well, perish the thought.
