Let the Battle Begin: 14th November 2009, Egypt V.S Algeria

Described by Egyptians as the game of the year and even the game of the decade the upcoming World Cup qualifier match against Algeria on November 14th is the talk of the month in Cairo.

Egypt has had a long history of clashes in football with North African countries but especially with Algeria. With the race for the World Cup qualifier this month, Algerians are now becoming the enemies.

History Repeating Itself?

The upcoming game will be a trip back in history when, twenty years ago, in 1989, Egypt won the qualifying game against Algeria 1-0 with a goal from Hossam Hassan who became a football national hero since.

Egypt needs to beat Algeria by a three-goal margin to advance to the World Cup for the first time since 1990. A win by a two-goal margin will set up a playoff game on the 18th of November in a country chosen by the FIFA as neutral soil.

Sports and Politics

There seems to be a war taking places between both sides with many open forums about the game turning into heated conversations with much hatred and insults. The Egyptian media is angered by the provocative comments from Algerians and retaliates with its own provocation. One Egyptian presenter even called on supporters to camp outside the Algerian players’ hotel when they come to Cairo to prevent them from sleeping. This is exactly what happened to the Egyptian team when they were in Algeria.

The debate has also gone into politics with an Algerian writer refusing to have the Egyptian visa stamp saying, “Egypt is a disgrace to Arabs and sold Arabs and Palestinian to Israel”, criticizing the Egyptian government’s foreign policies.

Battle for the Cup

Discussions have been taking place for weeks over the newspapers, television programs and the Internet with heated clashes against Algerians supporters and passionate support messages for the national team.

Videos and groups are flowing all over the Social Networking Website Facebook, with titles such as “Egypt Beats Algeria Our World Cup Dream” and “ I was not there for the 6th of October war but I will be there for the 14th of November war”.

Views and expectations are mixed for the outcome of the game. Algeria has more chances to win, as it will not be easy for Egypt to score three goals. However, Egypt has won the last two editions of the CAF African Cup of Nations and is supposed to be much stronger especially with its thousands of supporters at the stadium.

“I have been waiting for this day for twenty years and we are the African champions, we deserve to go to the 2010 World Cup. We are waiting for the Algerians in the stadium of hell,” says Hany Youssef a fervent supporter of the national team ( who helped me come up with all this info)

Egyptian player Ahmed Hassan was quoted in a news article saying: "Cairo Stadium might accommodate only 80,000 spectators, but I would like to tell the Algerian players that the 80 million Egyptians will be present. The venue will turn into a stadium of horror.”

Violent clashes are known to occur between supporters during significant matches like this one. Some Internet groups have warned women not to attend the game at the stadium because of the possible violent encounters that will take place in the “stadium of horror”.

(Photo By Randa El Tahawy)