LIBREVILLE, Gabon - At first I thought they had mistaken me for a Mamelodi Sundowns player. Almost everywhere I went in Alexandria, Egypt, they would ask, “Sundowns?”, then request to take a picture with me. I realised later these were Al-Ahly fans backing Sundowns to win the CAF Champions League final at the expense of their countrymen and rivals, Zamalek.
A group of Al-Ahly fans next to the hotel I stayed at asked to take a picture with me standing on a Zamalek shirt. I declined out of respect. We reached a compromise. We took a picture with us holding the jersey and flashing the three-sign. The three was for the 3-0 loss Zamalek suffered in Pretoria in the first leg.
These weren’t even the Ultras, yet they detested Zamalek to a point that they would rather support a foreign club. It made me realise how much of a big deal it was that the Ultras of these two teams came together during the uprising.
Luanda. Tahrir Square. Port Said. The Wilderness. Alexandria. Port-Gentil. These are just some of the places that have shaped Egypt’s national football team in the last seven years. Yes, there is a place called The Wilderness and I am not talking about the one on the Garden Route. I am talking about The Wilderness where Chaos is the capital. Your map might not show it but it exists and the Pharaohs called it home after winning their seventh Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Luanda, Angola, seven years ago.
The political turmoil that hit Egypt, starting on January 25, 2011, drove the Pharaohs to The Wilderness. Al-Ahly and Zamalek Ultras put aside their differences for a common goal, making a mockery of the statement that football and politics shouldn’t mix. In Egypt, the two are inseparable. The Ultras of these rival clubs put their bodies on the line to protect protestors who congregated at Tahrir Square. That uprising led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak who had ruled Egypt for 30 years.
But before Mubarak resigned on February 11, 2011, 10 days earlier, 74 people lost their lives during a riot in a match between Al-Ahly and Al-Masry. It is alleged the Al-Masry fans, supported by the police, stormed the pitch and attacked Al-Ahly fans because of Al-Ahly Ultras’ involvement in the uprising. Of the 74 who died, 72 were Al-Ahly fans. The league was shut down.
But Al-Ahly remained defiant and still did well on the continent even though the Pharaohs suffered, failing to qualify for the 2012, 2013 and 2015 editions of the Afcon.
As normality returned to the country, Egypt booked a place in this Afcon. It was poetic that on the seventh anniversary of the Egyptian uprising, on Wednesday, the Pharaohs topped Group D by beating Ghana in Port-Gentil.
It was a second successive win Egypt had recorded over Ghana. The first came in Alexandria late last year at a packed Borg-El Arab Stadium, the first time the Pharaohs had played in a packed stadium since the uprising. The victory in Port-Gentil helped Egypt advance to the quarter-finals. The football romantic in me rejoiced.
I experienced the same joy I felt after Ivory Coast’s national team practically stopped a civil war and united a country with their qualification for the 2006 World Cup.
I also remember how Seydou Keita paid outstanding bonuses to his Mali teammates during the 2013 Afcon. He argued that the Eagles shouldn’t be fighting over money during a time that people back in Mali were fighting for their lives because of the conflict that hit their country. Mali’s performance in that Afcon brought some relief during a tough time. I don’t agree with Bill Shankly’s assertion that football is much more important than life and death. But football does bring some joy in life - living side-by-side with death.
It would be something of a fairy-tale if this Egyptian side won the Afcon. It will take some doing, though, as Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo have looked better than them. But then again, the Pharaohs are slow starters who pick up in the knockout stage.
What this team lacks in experience, with only four players who had Afcon experience going into the showpiece, they make up for in determination. It might be too early to proclaim that “the Kings of Africa are back, it’s time to return the crown”, but seeing Egypt return to where they once were, has been one of the highlights of this Afcon.