Egyptian football is like Egyptian politics and economy, writes Abdel-Moneim Said : bearable for domestic consumption, but rather embarrassing otherwise I wasn't among those surprised at the outcome of the Ahli-Barcelona match. Not that I am naturally pessimistic, or that I know more about sports than everyone else. But I listened to the Ahli coach speaking, and he never promised that his club was going to win. All he said was that the match would be a celebratory occasion and that his team should enjoy playing Barcelona's outstanding players. His words were uncommon for Egyptian sport and Egyptian life in general. In this country, we're rarely told to do anything for the sake of enjoyment or pleasure, but I am digressing. You may wonder why I had such confidence in the words of the coach. Well, simply because Manuel José knows a lot about football, and he doesn't come from a culture where wishful thinking overcomes reason. The coach had earlier warned that his players would suffer a high incidence of injuries because they were participating in too many matches. And you may recall that he refused to ditch the Angolan player Flavio simply because his performance dipped for a while. Just as José predicted, Flavio's game picked up, so much so that he became the league's top scorer. The coach knew that Ahli can win all of Egypt's cups, and a few African ones too, but when it comes to international competition, it would be at a disadvantage. Manuel José was realistic about his team's capabilities, just as the World Bank is realistic about Egypt's economy. Egypt can improve its economic performance and even become a regional power, international organisations often tell us. But being a world class economy is something else. Unfortunately, this is not the way we like to view ourselves. In Egypt, expectations are often laced with myth, and facts with wishful thinking. So once I heard what the Portuguese coach had to say, I lowered my expectations immediately. I expected Ahli to lose, but hoped that the result would not be too disappointing, which it was: four-nil. Anyone who saw the match can see that José tried to keep the defeat within an acceptable level. And somewhat, the players managed to listen to their coach's advice, although they often got distracted by the exceptional show of skill the Catalonians put on. Let's say that Ahli players were as impressed by the unusual talents of Barcelona as the rest of us are impressed by new mobile phones, flat- screen televisions or the latest sports cars. It was a mixture of surprise and envy, puzzlement and curiosity. Well, the world is a wonderful place, after all, a place where other people's knowledge and talent often exceed our expectations. In the few years José has been coaching here, he came to a realistic opinion of where we stand in the world of football. It isn't that Barcelona is a "First World" team whereas Ahli is a "Third World" one. Many of Barcelona's players, including Ronaldinho, come from the Third World. But they play in a sports system that is radically different from ours. Our players may be the best in Africa or the region, but they are less fit than their European counterparts. During the match, you could sense the difference, the strain of muscles and the shortness of breath, as our players tried to keep up. The difference between the two sides was just as great as the difference between our per capita income, at $1,500, and that of Spain, at $25,000. The Catalonians had better ball control, superb timing, and lethal precision. In contrast, our players lacked direction and planning, which can be said of our accountants, doctors, engineers and workers. In all fields of life, excellence is the last thing we strive for. Our sense of purpose is tentative at best. Do we want something specific in this life, or in the afterlife? Do we want to please the government? Or shall we go for pan-Arab unity? The Catalonians played a simple game, scoring more goals with minimum footwork. Our players, meanwhile, were passing the ball backwards and sideways, and often to the Catalonians. In a way, they were mirroring our politics. Let's go back a few years in time. Spain used to be a military dictatorship under Franco, until 1975. The army and the church were in full control, while the elite kept talking about the preservation of cultural identity. Spain was backward, but in five years, from 1975 to 1980, it made a fresh start, opting for democracy and market economy and becoming an integral part of Europe. Egypt has been trying to do the same for the past four decades, and yet we're still where we started. We're still kicking the ball sideways and backwards. Our economy and politics are in no better shape than our football. So why are we so surprised with the result?
