Egyptians cheer for Ghana against Uganda, eyeing World Cup dream
As World Cup 2018 qualifications heat up, African national teams started the race this weekend to catch the five reserved places for Africa in Russia.
A day before Ghana’s match with Uganda, Egyptians started wide-spread campaigns on social media, cheering for Ghana, in the hope that Egypt’s national team, will take slot in the world’s biggest sports championship after 28 years of absence.
Ghana’s win would favour Egypt in the qualifications if the North African country beats Congo Brazzaville, because Uganda wouldn’t collect the maximum points in the group.
Egypt has a crucial match against Congo on Sunday October 8, which could be a historic day for the Arabic-speaking country, depending on the Uganda-Ghana clash.
Attempting to end long years of false hopes, Egypt has nine points in the group, two ahead of Uganda and four in front of Ghana.
The Pharaohs haven’t qualified to the World Cup since 1990 when the team took part in the 14th tournament, which was held in Italy.
Cheering for Ghana is strange for Egyptians who have been avoiding the West African team, with whom they experienced nightmares in World Cup qualifications in 2009 and 2013 as Ghana kicked Egypt out of the competition in both tournaments after it was too close from reaching the ultimate dream.
“But this time, we want to see Ghana beating Uganda because this will support us,” said Amr Sayed, a 27-year-old accountant, who has never seen Egypt play in a World Cup.
Egyptians took it to a whole new level as the Egyptian arm of UAE-based telecommunications and mobile service provider company, Etisalat Misr, launched a TV campaign on October 5, showing Egyptian school students and citizens listening to Ghana’s national anthem, calling on Egyptians to support Ghana.
See the ad: https://www.facebook.com/etisalatmisr/videos/10155450924359667/
Commenting on the advert, Cairo-based sports journalist Fady Ashraf said that it is a normal thing in football to support other teams in group stages, “anybody would support another nation if their win is in favour of their team,” he said.
“Showing Egyptians standing for another nation’s anthem in the ad might be unacceptable for some Egyptians, but in the end it’s an ad and it is meant to be catchy and in some way over the top, to gain attention,” Ashraf added.
In case Uganda and Ghana drew, this would mean that registering a win against Congo on Sunday will be the official qualification for Egypt as the country would have 12 points, four points ahead of Uganda.
The next 24 hours will determine the fate of Egypt, which is praying for an easy qualification without having to beat Ghana, avoiding flashbacks of last-minute losses from the West African team.
By Doaa Farid
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