Egypt vs Algeria

Last night was the soccer match between Egypt and Algeria to determine who would qualify for the world cup. The city and country were very excited in anticipation for this big match. For a few days before the match, people could be seen waving flags and honking thier car horns to the beat of the cheer for the team. Yesterday is when the city reached the peak of its excitement. As I was walking down the street to meet my friend, people everywhere were wearing their black, white, and red, beating drums, waving flags, honking thier horns, and yeliing "Masr." Cassidy met me at the bookstore and we continued to a Cafe to meet Carrie. It was a sports cafe and we figured it would be a good place to watch the game. Little did we know that we had to buy tickets in advance. So, we were standing out in front of the cafe trying to decide where to go when all of a sudden a man comes out and gives us each a ticket. We sat with a the group of people who gave us tickets. Oh, how I love Egyptian hospitality and generousity. By the time the game started, the cafe had become packed with people cheering on the country and team. People were yelling, singing cheers, and beating drums. The game started at around 7:30. Three minutes into the game, Egypt scored. The place went crazy. Everyone jumped up and down, hugging and cheering. The rest of the game was very close with no one scoring. Everyone was getting very nervous becasue in order for Egypt to advance, they had to win by three. If they win by two, they would have to play algeria again, but there would still be a chance. In the last few minutes Egypt scored again. it was now 2 to 0. Everyone was really excited then. It had actually happened. Egypt was still in the running. At the conclusion of the match we walked to the street. The street in front of the cafe was filled with people in the street. It was a huge group. They were dancing, cheering, beating drums, spraying fire, and waving flags. I needed to catch a taxi, but there couldn't be one on that road because the people were bocking the street, so I decided to walk to the bigger road. I simply found many many many more people standing in huge groups celebrating. Every car that rode by was waving a flag out the window, honking in the beat of the cheer, and yelling "masr". There was such a exciting feeling in the city. I walked back to my house. The whole way back I saw more and more people celebrating. When I got back to my apartment, I found my host siblings on the roof cheering and yelling. After a while, we went back out on the street to witness the celerations. It was quite a night. Egypt will play Algeria again on Wednesday in Sudan to determine who will go the the world cup next summer. Yalla Masr! Yalla Masr!