It was a pity seeing Egypt struggle against the net against a Botswana side whose crowds were clearly cheerful for just seeing three uninterrupted passes from their players. With a star-studded squad led by Tottenham duo Ahmed Hossam 'Mido' and Hossam Ghaly, African Cup of Nations best player Ahmed Hassan, Werder Bremen's forward Mohamed Zidan, a big away triumph was almost guaranteed. But tension started to mount between fans watching the match on screens in Cairo as time was running out with the home side in full charge of their box, leaving the African champions dominating the rest of the pitch but in vain. By the finals whistle, the Egyptian supporters realized how naïve were their dreams of a big victory even against the lowly Botswana, who were pounded 4-0 by Mauritania. Both of them didn't even reach the African Cup of Nations that Egypt won earlier this year. Egypt's last away victory in any qualifier dates back to almost two-and-half years when they beat Sudan 3-0 in Khartoum in June 2004. Yet, it was the last win on the road for the team, who were held by an amateur Benin side and Cameroon and lost to Ivory Coast and Libya during the competition for a place in the 2006 World Cup finals. Ironically, Egypt produced 4-1 drubbings of both Benin and Libya at home and were three up against Cameroon before the Lions grabbed two back to narrow the gap. That was almost exactly what happened in World Cup 2002 qualifiers as well.
These easy-yet-squandered points were always the main reason behind failing to feature in the World Cup. Egypt were tied away by Namibia, Senegal and Algeria, although all of them couldn't hang on to a draw in Cairo, with the Namibians conceding eight goals in the second leg. These easy-yet-squandered points were always the main reason behind failing to feature in the World Cup. In 2006, Egypt were five points behind first-place Ivory Coast while in 2002 the Pharaohs trailed Senegal by two points. So far, no one has an answer for this dilemma. It can't be confidence troubles because Egypt traveled to Botswana as non-disputed crowned champions. Lack of experience can't be blamed too, especially with this reasonable number of European-based players in the starting lineup. Culture, it seems, is the real problem. Egyptian youngsters are raised within the clubs and the different ranks of national youth teams to cherish the value of "avoiding the defeat" rather than seeking victories when away from home. No matter how weak the opponents are, inexperienced or hopeless, an away draw has always been celebrated in the media and among the fans until we reached the point where we struggle to win even if we want and are able to. This concept should be terminated as soon as possible before the African champions find themselves ousted by one of the three non-classified teams and sit and watch the upcoming African Cup on TV instead of defending their title on the ground.
