It was the summer of 1990
I was just a kid then I’d only been in Egypt for 4 years & then we just had this rush of excitement.
Egypt was playing in the world cup ….
The last time that happened in 1934 so it took us close to 60 years to make it back.
This time it took us only 28 years to repeat that feat so we cut it be half “here’s to hoping that we can reduce by half next time”
Football is the number one sport in Egypt for no obvious reason, I thought football was American football with super bowl craze over there I used to play soccer so I didn’t know why they called it football here, something was definitely wrong!!
In Egypt are better at squash, handball, speed ball, wrestling, tae kwon do, ,,,etc, but when there’s a football match the streets are empty
So why football? that is something I have never figured out
It may be historic with the rivalry between Al Ahly & Zamalek but the Egyptian Football league is below average so I don’t invest my time in watching it
So what is the difference this time ?
This time Egypt has a “Fantasista”
Mohamed Salah has taken the world by storm dominating the Premiere league coming from a small town called Nagrig having fought through Swiss League, Premiere, Italian Serie A
We finally have our answer to Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo ..
Even if you don’t watch football or Like Liverpool if you’re Egyptian you’re watching Salah
And he does not disappoint
When he is in the game all all eyes are on him, he makes us tremble with excitements, something only the great bring to the game
Egypt has always been a defensive team but with him a clear & present danger exists in the offense the chance is always there to change the flow of the game within seconds
Salah is a player who was denied the right to play in the top two clubs in Egypt AL Ahly & Zamalek has followed his dream & proven that we have what it takes to be the best
He chose not to quit there
I think that is where our problem lies in Egypt
Politics aside within the 100 million Egyptians we are not short on talent
Politics & favorism are ultimately our sins
If fair opportunity is given to the best of us based on talent & hard work then we’d be competing
After yesterday’s match with Uruguay “Elshennawy” was awarded “Man of the Match” .
That makes the problem even more obvious, he is someone who sat on reserve for years for no reason but when his chance to shine came he was ready so he delivered.
Reaching the world cup shouldn’t be the dream
Holding the world cup should
Simply Complicated 