Egypt parties after Pharaohs win
Loading ...Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian football fans have taken to the streets after Egypt’s victory in the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament.
The Pharaohs beat Cameroon in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, to retain the cup they won on home soil two years ago.Sunday’s 1-0 victory means Egypt have now won the cup a record sixth time.
Within seconds of the final whistle being blown, the Egyptian capital erupted into a cacophony of noise and a blur of light.
Tour boats on the Nile sounded their horns in time to the chants of crowds pouring across bridges spanning Africa’s longest river.
Fireworks lit up Cairo’s night sky as jubilant fans climbed atop buses and cars, dancing and beating drums.
In Giza, the massive eight-lane Arab League street was brought to a standstill as flag-waving crowds celebrated the Pharaohs’ historic victory.
With people driving around and around roundabouts honking their car horns, some policemen joined in the festivities.
“I feel very happy and I’m going to party all night to celebrate,” 19-year-old Cairo resident Mohammed Saeed told the AP news agency, his face painted in the national colours of red, white and black.
In the football-loving nation of 80m people, the celebrations are likely to continue for days to come.
But in the Cameroon capital, Yaounde, the trumpeting and whistle-blowing that had lasted during the match died down at the final whistle, reports the BBC’s Randy Jo Sa’ah.
“It’s a terrible disappointment,” one fan said.
But he said the team had done well to reach the final and said he would go to the airport to welcome the players home.
“The way we started this competition, I didn’t expect we could reach this level.”
Last 10 posts in Special Report - CAN 2008
- Gold Fields salute Stars
- We had problems in camp - John Mensah
- Agogo salutes Kumasi fans
- Annan grateful to Le Roy
- Benni's poster investigation
- Hosni Abd Rabou suffers injury blow
- Nigerians eye coaching job
- Shehata: Good football was enough
- "Don't confuse experience with age"- Geremi
- Ho fans celebrate Black Stars third place victory indoors
Popularity: 4% [?]
COMMENTS
GOOD DAY, MY NAME IS MR. JOHN COLE , A PLAYER SCOUT BASED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (TEXAS) I STAYING CURRENTLYIN AFRICA FOR SOME PROJECT. I WILL LIKE YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR CURRENT CONTACT DFETAIL (TEL. NO. EMAIL ADDRESS AND FAX CONTACTS) FOR EFFECTIVECOMMUNICATION AS THAT WILL BE VERY BENEFICIAL TO OUR SMOOTH FLOW AND RELATION. YOU CAN REACH ME ON MY DIRECT LINE: 234-8050918956. I WILL REALLY APPRECIATE TO HEAR FROM YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. and a good coach that can coach oversea MERRY XMAS / AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR. REGARDS,JOHN COLE.
- Posted by: john cole on July 3rd, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I’m looking forward to watching the progress of African teams in the next world cup. They are definitely progressing rapidly.