Karim Khoshala switched off his television in utter disappointment after watching Cameroon, Africa's top-ranked team at the World Cup, bow out of the tournament after losing 2-1 to Denmark. The Danes inflicted a second successive defeat on Cameroon's Lions, who were hardly Indomitable, to send them packing after a miserable campaign which ended prematurely for one of Africa's six representatives at the South Africa finals. For 21-year-old football-fanatic Khoshala, the fact that Cameroon could not go beyond the first round meant nothing. He was very disappointed for a wholly different reason. "Egypt should have been playing at this World Cup, we deserved to be in South Africa," Khoshala, who studies engineering, told FilGoal.com in a dejected tone. "We all watched Cameroon and the other African teams in the tournament, none of them are better than Egypt. This is very clear." The Pharaohs were firm favorites to end a long wait for World Cup football and reach the tournament from a qualifying group that included minnows Zambia and Rwanda and North African rivals Algeria. Algeria looked like an ailing giant before the qualifiers began but they produced a string of solid displays to qualify for the World Cup at the expense of bitter foes Egypt, beating them 1-0 in a playoff game in Sudan.
Early exit for Cameroon "We are obviously better than Algeria, we showed that during the Nations Cup when we beat them 4-0," Khoshala, who said he fainted when Algeria defender Antar Yahia scored the decisive goal which earned his side a place in the World Cup, added. Resigned to the fact that their beloved Pharaohs would not be able to showcase their capabilities in the football's most prestigious event, Egyptian fans chose to support other teams. Some decided to cheer Brazil's Samba Boys, some went for Euro 2008 champions Spain and others became interim fans of African teams. But all have shared one major disappointment few days into the tournament - they felt Egypt would have fared better than many teams they chose to support. "Look at how France played against Mexico for example, would Egypt have played that badly?" Ahmed Al-Shandawili, a 24-year-old juice seller, asked. "I believe that we were capable of springing a huge surprise and reaching the final!" Burning Question The reason why have Egypt failed to reach the World Cup is a burning question for many.
Egypt: Seven-time African champions Three successive African Cup of Nations triumphs in 2006, 2008 and 2010 should have paved the way for Hassan Shehata's men to end their World Cup jinx, having made their last appearance in 1990. But the likes of Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon - all of which were soundly beaten by Egypt in the 2008 and 2010 Nations Cups - managed to qualify for the World Cup while the seven-time African champions could not. "Honestly, we wanted Egypt to be at the World Cup," Al-Jazeera's Qatari commentator Youssef Seif said while commentating on Ivory Coast's goalless draw with Portugal. "Egypt are the top-ranked team in Africa. One could wonder how the African champions are not playing in the World Cup. "There are six African teams in the tournament, but how many of them can make it to the second round?" South Africa became the first hosts to be eliminated from the World Cup group stage despite beating France 2-1 in their last game on Tuesday. Nigeria followed suit later in the day as a 2-2 draw with South Korea was not enough to lift them through. Ivory Coast's chances of advancing to the knockout phase are virtually over, leaving Algeria and Ghana as the only sides who could spare the blushes of the Dark Continent. "I can't wait for Brazil 2014 to see Egypt representing Africa in the best possible way," Khoshala said, hoping that his dream would not vanish into thin air once again.
