Panic among nearly all Egypt players, endless number of miss-passes, horrible positioning, aimless long balls which can't reach our strikers, no clear attacking tactic whatsoever. These were the scenes that dominated Cairo Stadium during the 1-1 draw with Zambia. It was something like school football, where 22 boys are running around the ball and they fall under pressure when they need to save a game by scoring right before its end. Watching Egypt struggle to win three points that should have been within our reach; I couldn't help but remember some of the petrifying experiences we all endured in previous World Cup qualifying campaigns. Unfortunately, Sunday's draw reminded me of the days when we used to change coaches every month, when we never made it to an African cup semi-final, when we sometimes looked paralysed among some minor continental teams like Mali in 1994, Zambia in 96, Liberia in 97 and Namibia in 2001. I know I'm overreacting, maybe we are all wrong to start presuming that we're on the verge of another fruitless qualifications stage. Nonetheless, every single result Egypt produced over the last three years granted us massive confidence that the dull days are over, and that now is the time to really secure a place in a World Cup. That's why both the Zambia display and result can be considered a bitter blow to swallow.
Egypt always suffered from some of long-lasting symptoms like underestimating opponents, failing to deal with teams scoring against us at home, and that's exactly what happened on Sunday. Prior to winning the 2006 African Cup of Nations, Egypt always suffered from some long-lasting symptoms like underestimating or overrating opponents, failing to deal with teams scoring against us at home, incapability to handle fan-packed stadiums in our outside the country as well as total lack of focus and some random tactics. I'm so afraid to admit that this is exactly what happened on Sunday. The draw was nowhere near some of our classy performances in the 2006 and 2008 African cups. It is just a draw, but it brought us all back do the ground, after looming in cloud number nine for a pleasant period of time. Everything that happened over the last three years confirms that we have to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, but since when did realism or figures and facts had anything to do with the destiny of Egyptian football? Losing two points is not the end of the world. It is the manner we lost these points through that really worries me more. However, Hassan Shehata and his players have proved their real worth when it mattered most, and how I hope and pray that they will prove me wrong this time.
