28 June - 4 July 2001
Issue No.540
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 June - 4 July 2001 Issue No.540 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Half-time
No indifference around here
Roller-coaster rides. How else to describe Argentina's 7-1 demolition of Egypt in the World Youth Championship, followed three days later by Egypt's 2-1 win over Finland in the same tournament? Emotional ups and downs experienced with wins and losses in sport take you somewhere up in the stratosphere one day and bring you down to earth with a thud the next.
Such is the case everywhere and not just football but it is especially pronounced in Egypt, where love/hate relationships with sports are fuelled by unabashed passion. You either adore your team or you despise it; there are no two ways about it. No middle ground. No shades of gray. Few people are neutral; fewer are apathetic. When it comes to club or country, in this part of the globe there is no such thing as ambivalence.
And the players are just as bad -- if you consider such intense feelings to be detrimental. They, too, can experience the whole range of emotions, from ecstasy to depression, and do so not just on a day-to- day basis but by the minute.
Following the calamity with Argentina in Buenos Aires, the Egyptian team bus was as silent as a library. The procession of cars which followed it out the stadium, driven by members of the Egyptian community, looked strikingly akin to a funeral. Egypt's flags were hurriedly folded and stuck in the trunks. In the hotel, there was finger-pointing, tears and closed doors. And back in Egypt, there was shock, disbelief and an eagerness to set fire to the entire team and anybody associated with it.
That was Thursday. On Sunday, when Egypt pulled itself together to beat Finland and qualify for the second round, you would think the country had won the World Cup. Egyptian flags were hoisted high, here and there. The team bus was now surrounded as Egyptians danced around it. Horns blared, players and fans sang and Thursday apparently never was.
Which is, to an extent, fine. Few things are more self-defeating in sports than moaning and whining about a loss -- no matter how humiliating -- and dreaming about what might have been. Nothing can be done about spilt milk except to clean up the mess and concentrate a little bit more the next time. That's what the Egyptians did after Argentina. That's what occurred after their shocking 5-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia two years ago in the Confederations Cup. And that's what the Egyptian handball team did after losing to Russia time and time again. They regrouped to beat the former world champions in the world championship in France in February.
At the same time, however, cockiness after victory can only land you in hot water. An emotional high following triumph can easily backfire. Again, the Egyptian handball team, euphoric after finally conquering Russia, slumped in the French Bercy championship last month, losing all three matches, this after winning the tournament last year.
In general, though, Egyptian athletes are too mercurial and their followers are of likewise often-changing moods to expect there will ever be a middle-of-the-road approach taken when winning and losing.
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