This year's African Cup (for soccer) took place in Ghana...and Egypt won!! Jessica and I were always going to cafes to watch the games.
Here is a clip of the best goals during the tournament:
We even bought Egyptian flags...and one is hanging up in our apartment (yes with a lovely duct tape frame:))Anyways, Jessica and I watched the final match between Egypt an Cameroon in a cafe in Mohandiseen. lol we were a little jealous that we weren't the only foreigners...but the two other guys were cool. It was so much fun watching the game and it was a really good game too!! You can watch some highlights on this link:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11022008/58/african-cup-nations-cairo-celebrates-historic-triumph.html
And the best part of it all....Egypt won!!!!!!!!!
"Egypt won the Africa Cup of Nations for the sixth time in the tournament's history, this afternoon in Accra, Ghana. The Pharaohs (Egypt) defeated the Indomitable Lions (Cameroon) 1 - 0 to win the Cup with a goal by Mohamed Aboutrika in the 77th minute of the game. Egypt was the Cup winner last time (2006), when the finals were played in Cairo. While the Pharaohs were not favored to win, they were always strong contenders. "
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11022008/58/african-cup-nations-cairo-celebrates-historic-triumph.html
After the game, we cheered Egypt some more at the cafe and waited for Ahmed to pick us up....because as foreigners and girls it was too dangerous for us to walk to ride a taxi home alone. Plus he wanted to celebrate the victory with us:) In between the cafe an our apartment is a street called Gamia al-dowall. It is a huge street, and the majority of Egypt was there celebrating the match. Of course Jessica and I wanted to go there. We lived in Egypt, cheered for Egypt, and wanted to celebrate with Egypt. But Ahmed wouldn't let us...it was too dangerous...because they might make us dance? hmm Jessica and I couldn't understand the dangers so we gave him an ultimatum. Either he comes with us or we go alone. Haha, he went with us. But we were only on the street for 1 minute...because it really was dangerous!!! With my height and Jessica's red hair, it is hard for us to go unnoticed. All of a sudden the celebrating crowds turned around an started coming towards us!!! We were pushed up against the shop windows and Ahmed was trying to protect us. Then the police came and starting beating people with wooden sticks to leave us alone...they even hit Ahmed! :( so we retraced our steps and some other people helped us escape. But we still didn't know how to get home....so we hid in a Coptic church until the celebrations calmed down. The caretakers of the church were really nice and let us watch a wedding that was taking place. We were even allowed to take pictures during the ceremony. So I whipped out my camera and started taking pictures...but I didn't know where the bride and groom were at first. oops! Once I found them, people realized that there were foreigners attending the wedding. They were sooo happy! and the pushed Jessica, Ahmed and I closer to the stage. But Jessica and Ahmed left me and the next thing I knew I was on stage with the closest relatives of the bride and groom and I was right next to the priest! I was embarrassed....but at the same time happy that I could experience that. Its not everyday that you hide from celebrating fans in a church and next thing you know you are almost part of the wedding!
We were eventually able to walk safely home. Some more of my Egyptian friends met us....so I think Jessica and I had 8 body guards:) we were even able to stop on a bridge where we could safely witness the celebrations on Gamia al-dowall.
And yes, Egypt is still celebrating the championship. I love the people here!!
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| African Champions |
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