Mabrouk!

The Pharaos have won the African Nations Cup for a record sixth time.

Congratulations! But is anyone competent enough to explain why the team always screws up when it comes to qualifying for the world cup?

Comments

[Alaa]

shehata is a new addition and this is a mostly young team (and the only decent team egypt had in my short life).

ya3ni hopefully they'll manage to qualify this time.

[ash-shakkak]

Why the sour grapes, Frederik? Let them have their day in the sun.

[Frederik]

Ash Shakkak, I'm just hoping for more, after two African championships in a row! I think this team, with its good organization, could do fairly well during a world cup.

[Abu Muqawama]

I wrote off their last championship to home-field advantage, but they impressed the heck out of me this time around. You have to understand, there is some real talent in the teams south of the Sahara. I watched Ghana play in the World Cup and thought they had a midfield as dynamic and good as anyone's with Muntari, Essien, etc. Ivory Coast is also a truly impressive team with some real world-class talent.

By contrast, I do not think Egypt has a single truly world class player along the lines of a Drogba or Essien or Eto'o. I think Egypt's success can be partly attributed, instead, to the success of the domestic league in Egypt. There is a solid cadre of locally-based players from which Shehata can draw and also a small group of really impressive play-makers abroad. (Zidan comes to mind first and foremost.) Unless you're Brazil (or France, which instead has a very good national training center), having a solid domestic league is really important in developing teams capable of winning tournaments.

I cannot imagine Egypt will not qualify for the World Cup this time around. They have a genuine "Golden Generation," and unlike the golden generations of England and Portugal of late, the Egyptians have actually won something.

Credit to the victors.