CAIRO: We did it! Egypt beat Algeria 4-0. In this cutthroat African Cup of Nations’ semifinal, three of Algeria’s players were “dishonorably discharged for doing what they do best: intentionally (an unscrupulously) kicking and punching our players, who were miraculously able to stay calm through what player Mohamed Zidan later described as the most important match of his life.
Ever since Egypt beat Cameroon last Monday, signaling a face-off with archrivals Algeria in the semifinals, and the whole country has been holding its breath, even those like myself who aren’t particularly interested in football.
Everyone made plans to watch the game with friends or family and as early as 6 pm on Thursday night, there was hardly any traffic on Cairo’s notoriously busy streets.
People were braced to watch what was more than just another game: it was about restoring Egypt’s pride and avenging the assault on Egyptian fans by their Algerian counterparts in Khartoum following the World Cup qualifier Egypt lost last November.
No one could have imagined that Egypt would land four balls into Algeria’s net with relatively little resistance, unless of course you call beating up the rival team a form of resistance. Overconfident and clearly with no bigger plan than to flex their muscles, the Algerians dug their own grave in a game that proved beyond a doubt that with adequate resources, dedication and a healthy dose of good-old-fashioned sportsmanship and good manners, Egyptians can excel at anything we endeavor to achieve.
What I still struggle to fathom is why the Egyptian government fails to implement this magic formula in all other vital areas of public life. Competitiveness, motivation, reward and recognition were clearly the pillars of our national football team’s success model. True, that we did not make it to the World Cup despite beating all the African teams who did qualify, still we ve established ourselves as the monarchs of African football.
Why can’t we, for instance, apply a similar strategy to excelling in scientific research and development? I’m not talking about merely allocating a “budget for R&D, but about mining talent, nurturing it, and publicly recognizing and rewarding it without there being any hint of favoritism, nepotism or corruption.
In just under 70 years, with no natural resources, shunned by the international community and blighted by indomitable natural catastrophes as well as two nuclear bombs, Japan was able to set itself up as a technological behemoth. Tokyo is already living in the future. Recently, American astronauts started tweeting from outer space. Yes, they managed to figure out a way to get internet access literally in the middle of nowhere.
There should be no ceiling to what we can achieve as a nation, but one small step forward would be for the authorities to figure out a way to have us all rally around one common cause the way we do around football. And the rest will be history.
Once again, Mabrouk for Egypt!
Rania Al Malky is the Chief Editor of Daily News Egypt.
