Pick 'n mix
Egypt's under-20 soccer players run a serious risk of anonymity, writes
Alaa Abdel-Ghani
They are so unknown that a series of soda pop TV commercials is trying to put them on at least a small corner of the map. In encounters with doormen, vendors and taxi drivers, who would otherwise treat famous footballers with over-the-top reverence, the undistinguished lot who comprise Egypt's under-20 football team are brushed aside with a dismissive wave of the hand. The ads are meant to heighten the players' public image, but after a heartbreaking, last- second loss to 10-man Paraguay, Egypt is now in danger of not getting past the group stage of the U20 World Cup it is hosting. In which case the players will quickly sink into oblivion.
It would be a shame should Egypt bow out so quickly. But a Pharaoh-less championship should not deflect from a tournament that has produced some exciting football, proving that the U20 is the next best thing to the big World Cup. FIFA sponsors no higher age group, meaning the U20 is as close as you can get to the real McCoy. And let not age deceive. The U20 is not child's play. If you are not a good player at 20 when, pray tell, do you intend to be?
But for all the skills on show the players are still young and it shows. When Tahiti is destroyed 8-0 for the second time, that's young.
Despite Egypt's setback, we're enjoying to the fullest this three- week, 52-match extravaganza. Previous U20 tournaments have produced the likes of Maradona, Messi, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Figo, Henry and Owen. It's fun trying to identify the football geniuses this U20 might unearth.
The U20 compensated somewhat for the big fat zero Egypt garnered when it failed in its bid to stage the 2010 World Cup. Seeing that another World Cup cannot be staged in Africa before at least 2026, we should savour every U20 moment.
Today, Thursday 1 October, against Italy, victory will send Egypt into the second round. Defeat could see the players condemned to an early shower and remaining inconspicuous. (see p.17)
photo: AP
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