Egypt dances the night away after winning the CAN

By Mohamed Mahmoud from Cairo
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-02-01

[ADEL AL-MASRY/AFP/Getty Images] Egyptians in Alexandria celebrate CAN championship.

Egypt reveled all night long after a historic victory, where the national squad managed to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time in a row on Sunday (January 31st).

For two consecutive days, streets in Cairo and other provinces were closed as people celebrated an unprecedented victory in the history of the competition.

Egypt defeated Ghana 1-0 in the final in Angola, after Mohamed Nagy Gedo scored the winning goal in the 85th minute of the game.

The moment the game ended at 8 pm Cairo time, millions of fans took to the streets to participate in nationwide celebrations.

Fans carried drums, tambourines and photos of players, and chanted songs and patriotic tunes in celebration of the many record numbers the national squad has achieved so far: 19 games without a single defeat in Africa Cup play, winning the African title for the seventh time, best defense line, and best attack line in Africa.

In Tahrir square, the largest in Cairo, nearly 20,000 fans gathered, waving flags and setting off fireworks till the wee hours of the morning.

Police had to close roads leading to the square and redirect traffic to the Salah Salem road and the 6th October Bridge. But this did not stop people from filling up these streets, which were also completely closed till 4 am.

In the meantime, in Arab League street, thousands of fans chanted impromptu rhymes on the victory over Ghana, and the outstanding performance of Gedo. Enthusiastic fans went so far as to demand that some streets in Alexandria be named after Gedo and Ahmad Hassan, the captain of the team.

"Why can't one of the streets in Alexandria be named after Gedo? The man made millions of Egyptians happy and deserves some sort of recognition," Youssef Khatab, 46, said.

"They are national heroes and ought to be honored. They are the ones who brought us joy," said Hassan Mohamad Khalil, another fan.

Ahmad Hassan won the title of best player in the tournament for the second time. His first was back in 2006. The title in 2008 went to Hosni Abd Rabou. Al-Hadari was named best goalkeeper for the third time in a row, while Gedo won the title of the tournament's top striker with five goals. Ahmed Hassan also boasts the highest number of international games among Egyptian and African players, with a total of 172 games.

Nonetheless, Egyptians could not totally bury the bitterness they felt for not qualifying for the World Cup, to be held in South Africa this summer.

"We defeated all teams that made it to the World Cup and were entitled to take part in that championship," Mosad Abdel Kareem said. "It is just that we were out of luck. We really wish we could get over that 'Mondial' complex once and for all."

Starting at 1 am on Monday, thousands of fans headed for Cairo International Airport to welcome home the Egyptian squad.

Airport authorities collaborated with security forces, and declared a state of emergency in an attempt to regulate the movement of the fans who spent the night at the airport waiting for the national team to arrive.

In terminal 4, the victorious team was warmly welcomed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif, Speaker of the People's Assembly Ahmed Fathi Sorour, Speaker of the Shura Council Safwat al-Sharif, Field Marshal and Minister of Defense and Military Production Hussein Tantawi, Minister of Interior Habib el-Adly, as well as heads of political parties, sports figures and members of the Football Federation Council.

Outside the airport, fans played patriotic songs in loud speakers, while a large number of them were dressed in Pharonic outfits.

After this win, the Egyptian national squad is expected to climb up the FIFA ranking, due to be announced on Wednesday.

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