Another World Cup has arrived and Egyptian TV viewers are fretting over how they will watch the matches, the airing of which are exclusive to a particular encrypted network. This year, it is implausible that Egyptian TV will undertake the usual practice of offering a partial solution by buying the rights to air a few matches. The exclusive rights to broadcast the World Cup are in the hands of Qatari network Bein Sports this time and, considering the political problems between Egypt and Qatar, it seems unlikely there will be any negotiations taking place regarding the issue. What are the options then for Egyptian football fans? The first option, of course, is to subscribe to beIN Sports. If you have an HD receiver at home, you are halfway there, as you only need to pay around LE650 to receive programming. If not, you will need to buy the beIN receiver and the cost will go up to around LE1,500. The second option is watching the games at a café, which will cost far less, but may be problematic for people with jobs. With the matches running mostly past midnight, being out so late may not be convenient for people who need to wake up to go to work in the morning. It could be an ideal choice, though, for students who have finished their exams. If these options do not work for you, not to worry. There is a third option. If you happen to have access to other satellites on your dish, you might be lucky enough to find a channel that airs the World Cup. However, rumours that the German channel — ZDF — will air the World Cup are unfounded, according to ZDF. The only way to catch a foreign station airing the matches is through a channel search. If you give up on watching the matches on TV, then you can try the Internet. Everything is available in cyberspace, if you know how to find it. Some European websites will have all the matches broadcast live. One of the websites you could try is http://www.livesoccertv.com. However, it is necessary to have a good Internet connection with proper speed. The final way some people might get to watch the World Cup is through cables. These cables are provided illegally for a nominal fee by someone who can decipher encrypted channels. Now that the ways to watch the matches have been covered, what will you watch of the games this year? The opening match will be between Brazil and Croatia. Their group will also include Mexico and Cameroon. Brazil is likely to finish on top, but the question will be: which team will come second? The second group will kick off strongly with a match between Spain and the Netherlands in a replay of the previous World Cup final. The two giants also have the strong sides, Chile and Australia, in their group. In this group, Spain and the Netherlands are the definite favourites. However, Chile should not be counted out. The third group, on the other hand, might not be as appealing to Egyptian fans, lacking as it is in major European or South American teams. The group has Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan. All teams in that group have equal chances. The fourth group will witness the clash of Italy, England and Uruguay. Costa Rica is the fourth and weakest side in that group. In the fifth group, it is likely that France will come top against opponents Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras. Moving to the sixth group, Argentina will probably finish in first place having Bosnia, Nigeria and Iran in the same group. Nigeria is more likely to accompany the two-time World Cup winners to the second round. Then comes the seventh group, or this year's “Death Group.” The group comprises the teams of Germany, Portugal, Ghana and the United States. All the teams in this group have a chance to qualify. However, Germany is expected to top the group with the three other teams fighting for the second ticket. The last group consists of the young promising team of Belgium, the only Arab team in the World Cup, Algeria, in addition to Russia and South Korea. Logic says that Belgium will qualify on top of its group. Algeria has a magical chance to snatch the second ticket. Just as well, Russia and South Korea cannot be counted out and might present tough competition to the Algerians. The World Cup this year is promising to be better than the previous one, which many think lacked good football playing as many teams had been in defensive-mind mode. The change of plans and tactics in the previous four years might result in more attack-minded playing in this World Cup. The writer is a freelance journalist.
