A dramatic World Cup campaign saw Egypt ousted from the quadrennial competition once again, but after all it's fair to say that the Pharaohs didn't deserve to qualify. After Hassan Shehata's men miraculously revived their slim chances in the qualifying stage, a painful and unexpected finale thrashed their hopes and Algeria won a playoff game to go through. The prayers of 80 Egyptians weren't enough for the African champions to defeat their stubborn opponents, who were definitely the better team in the game. As much annoying as this may sound, a star-studded Egypt side were outplayed by Algeria, and there's absolutely no excuses for the disappointing defeat. It remains a mystery why Egypt were determined to keep dishing out useless long passes throughout the game, despite their obvious poor aerial challenges. What also drives a sane man crazy is how the Egyptians wasted valuable time while flicking the ball back and forth near the center, even when they were down by one goal.
As much annoying as this may sound, a star-studded Egypt side were outplayed by Algeria, and there's absolutely no excuses for the disappointing defeat. They simply failed to play with minimum fluency, and helplessly let Algeria control the game outright and snatch a hard-fought, yet deserved victory. Rabah Saadane's side opened the scoring, and then successfully plotted an ultra-defensive strategy to keep their slender lead intact till the final whistle. The Algerians, who have reached the World Cup for the first time since 1986, knew how to keep their opponents at bay with impressive marking and consistent defending. Egypt, on the other hand, were totally out of tricks, and so was Shehata whose controversial substitutions didn't result in any improvement. Now the Egyptian football lovers have to wait for another four years to dream of the end of their country's World Cup drought. Big names missed out on a golden chance to play in the World Cup, and probably won't get another before the end of their careers. Veterans like Ahmed Hassan, Essam Al-Hadari and Wael Gomaa are most likely to hang up their boots before Egypt's next World Cup campaign, and that's another reason for the Egyptian fans to be rueful.
