The curtain falls on Egypt's football team and its iconic coach, Alaa Abdel-Ghani reports Egypt has won the Africa Nations Cup (ANC) the last three times and seven overall. Both are records. But the country is about to set one more record, this one unwanted: the only defending champion not to make it to the next tournament. There is still a mathematical chance of qualifying for next January's championship but we are not spoiled for choice. The lowly draw with South Africa on Sunday in Cairo gave Bafana Bafana eight points against only two for Egypt. With just two matches remaining in Group G, South Africa would have to lose its next two games and Egypt win both of theirs for the two to end up tied. The trouble with that scenario is that South Africa's next two opponents, Niger and Sierra Leone, are 99 and 118 respectively in the world rankings. If South Africa cannot elicit just one point from these lightweights, its players should be locked up on Robben Island and the key given to an avid supporter of apartheid. If a team does not finish atop its group, qualification is still possible should it be among the best two teams throughout the 11 groups. However, Sudan, Tunisia and Malawi are all second place teams with 10 points apiece, meaning Egypt's entry into the ANC via a backdoor has been effectively shut down. Thus, for the first time since 1978, Egypt will in all likelihood not be making an appearance in the continental championship it has dominated from the 1957 get-go. With such a distinguished past and so illustrious a present, how did we miss the boat to Africa? It is supposedly all the fault of ironically the man who so many times gave glory to the team. Hassan Shehata, the 61-year-old coach with a full-blooded mane that droops down his nape and the exaggerated body English, simply could not motivate neither himself nor by extension his squad to claim one more African hardware. Three back-to-back-to- back trophies were considered more than enough. Four was looked on as downright gluttonous. The hammer blow dealt by Algeria in the race for the 2010 World Cup must also count for something. Going to South Africa was supposed to be like taking candy from a baby but Algeria was the baby elephant in the room we could not budge. In the deciding play-off match, Egypt was beaten by Algeria, after which, for the icing, our fans were trounced off the field by Algerian supporters who inflicted some physical damage but hurt our pride more than anything else. Egypt was, therefore, unable to banish the demons that have prevented it from making it to the World Cup save twice. Till today the Algerian loss has weighed heavily on the players' psyche. They now see one World Cup pass as being equal to a whole African trophy -- and played as such. We collected as many African cups as hobbyists collect stamps, so much so that it became ho-hum to win Africa. But our World Cup appearances are as rare as rare stamps. The last stamp was 21 years ago. So Shehata should have left after the 2010 ANC when Egypt pulled up its socks one last time to vanquish four African teams that were going to the World Cup that year, including Algeria. After that marvel, there was nothing more to give or prove. The Egyptian Football Federation should have sensed the danger of players and a coach who could do no more but it could not have fired Shehata; that's not the gratitude you show for winning. Shehata should have taken the initiative. He did not and this is the result. A team which once ruled the continent, and had broken into the top 10 of the world's elite, is morphed from mighty to minnow. Football is fickle and so too are its fans. Bashing Shehata will continue to be the rage at least as long as the qualifications continue. Not just because he will be remembered for this inglorious ending. Shehata will also not be forgotten for his hobnobbing with Hosni Mubarak and sons. Just a few months ago, rubbing shoulders with Mubarak would have made one looked upon with awe and envy but today the death knell sounds for anybody who had anything to do with the Mubarak clan. Mubarak made optimum use of football, the opium of the people, our No 1 entertainment used to sedate the masses. Football does not pay the bills but as long as the country was winning, we felt better in a country in which we usually don't feel so good. It was then strange that on Sunday night few out of 85 million Egyptians were invoking Allah to get us past South Africa. Maybe the revolution has taken precedence over all else as the public's main attraction. Or perhaps we knew what was coming. Shehata had been criticised in recent times for failing to replace an ageing squad with new blood and hungrier appetites. The stars of old no longer shine when they should. This out of Africa story proves it's time to build a new team to prepare for qualifications to the 2014 World Cup which start a year from now. As for Africa, Egypt never claimed it had an ordained right to an ANC slot, although the team at times believed as much. We had to earn the ticket; we did not. It's a shame we won't be going to the African tournament but not shameful. No team or person can stay on top indefinitely. Dynasties do not last forever. Even the Mubaraks couldn't keep it up. (see p.28)
