EGYPT hailed its shock victory over Algeria in the African Cup of Nations (ACN) as one of its best ever. The Pharaohs stunned the Algerians 4-0 late on Thursday in Angola. After the match, hundreds of thousands of Egyptian football fans packed Cairo streets after news of the win came through. Within seconds of the final whistle being blown, the Egyptian capital erupted into a cacophony of noise and a blur of light all night long. Tour boats on the Nile sounded their horns in time to the chants of crowds pouring across bridges spanning Africa's longest river. Fireworks lit up Cairo's night sky as the jubilant fans climbed atop buses and cars, dancing and beating drums. In Giza, the massive Arab League Street was brought to a standstill as flagwaving crowds celebrated the Pharaohs' historic victory. With people driving around and around the streets honking their car horns, some policemen joined in the festivities. “I feel very happy and I am going to party all night to celebrate," 19-year-old Cairo resident Mohamed Saeed said, his face painted in the national colours of red, white and black. In this football-loving nation of 80 million people, the celebrations are likely to continue until tomorrow's final against Ghana. “We are very happy on this beautiful night. This is a victory for Egypt and the Egyptian," said Yussra, 19, as she stood with her three sisters in el-Kurba Street in Heliopolis. President Hosni Mubarak was the first of thousands of fans to congratulate the national football team as festivities continued through the night across the nation following the 4-0 victory against Algeria. Mubarak sent a message of congratulations to the team as soon as the final whistle went late on Thursday. He especially congratulated coach Hassan Shehata, as well as lone talented striker Mohamed (Gedo) Nagui, goalkeeper Essam el-Hadary and Mohamed Zidane, Egypt's Euro-based player, who scored the first goal in the 36th minute in front of thousands of Egyptian, Algerian and Angolan fans in Benguela. “The President told me 'congratulations for the “remarkable performance” ... you have won great happiness and a great victory for Egypt',” Shehata quoted Mubarak as saying. “We played better than them for the 90 minutes. This will go down in Egyptian history as we are the world champions," Egyptian coach Shawky Gharib told TV correspondents from the Angolan capital. Meanwhile, Egypt's press showered the footballers with praises for reaching the African Cup final with the victory over Algeria seen as sweet revenge after their fierce rivals pushed them out of a World Cup place. “Long live the golden generation," trumpeted a headline in the daily Al- Gomhuria, describing the Algerian team as being in “intensive care” after having three players sent off during the match. “Egypt crush Algeria with a 4-0 win," said Al-Ahram. “The Egyptian team handed out a lesson in football and manners. The referee stood up to Algerian aggression at the match in Benguela, Angola,” the newspaper added.
