American Soccer Stunner Restores Egyptian Pride

Trumpeting upsets: South Africa's Confederation Cup fans have been treated to fabulous upsets for two weeks, including one by Egypt and two by the United States. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

If Egypt could inspire the Statue of Liberty (and did), why could it not inspire the United States soccer team to win the biggest upset of its history? Egypt did just that at the Confederation Cup being played out in South Africa, setting up the Americans' 2-0 win over Spain on Wednesday in a stunner with few equals in the history of the sport and just one equal in the history of American football--excuse me, soccer, as they put it quaintly in gridiron country. (In 1998, the United States beat top-ranked Brazil, 1-0.)

They must be dancing in the streets of Cairo, at least a little, after having their hearts and hopes broken by the American team on Sunday: If they were beaten by the team that beat Spain, the world's top-ranked team, then pride is restored: Egypt's defeat wasn't an American fluke.

Here's the story: Egypt are Africa's reigning soccer champion. They played like it in the first round of the Confederation Cup, a 10-team international tournament in South Africa that's warming up the country for the World Cup next year. (OK, so the Confederation Cup ranks somewhere between Pluto and the Kuiper Belt in the order of soccer relevance, but an international tournament is an international tournament.) Egypt beat Italy 1-0 and took Brazil to a 3-3 tie until the final minute, when Brazil's Kaka got himself a penalty that gave the Brazilians the win.

Still, Egypt expected to beat the United States handily in their last round-robin match, and move on to the semi-final. The United States had played as if George Bush were still president, which is to say horribly, violently and unimaginatively, earning ejection after ejection along the way--and two miserable losses, against Italy and Brazil, giving up six goals. They looked done for, deservedly so. But something odd happened against Egypt. They played like Phoenixes to Egypt's ashen feet. Ninety minutes later, the Americans had a 3-0 win, and thanks to Brazil, which beat up on Italy, 3-0 in the same group, the Americans found themselves in the semi-final.

They had no hope against Spain. They had no right to be on the same pitch really, let alone win. Spain are the top-ranked team in the world. They're the reigning European champions. They've gone undefeated in 35 matches going back to 2006. The match against the United States was to be a walk in the park, a humbling of Goliath (though in fairness Spain is the real soccer Goliath these days), a serenade for Old Europe.

And yet. Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey found the net. The Americans' defense would have impressed even Hezbollah. And though they turned on the thuggish violence toward the end, with delaying tactics and ugly-American sportsmanship that earned them their third ejection of the tournament, they held on, removing the stigma from 80 million Egyptians who thought they'd been beaten by a curse rather than a soccer team. (Or could it be that there was some sort of subliminal surrender on the Egyptians' part, in exchange for the $3 billion in aid they're receiving from the United States? Ugly suggestion, though these days back-scratching geopolitics you never know.)

The Americans' win is being compared to their win over Colombia in the 1994 World Cup, or over Portugal in 2002, or the 1-0 win over England in the 1950 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro when--get this--"Brazilian fans swarmed on to the field after the United States victory," according to an Associated Press report from the period, "and took the Americans on their shoulders while the players received an ovation." Those were the days when America was more beloved than it is no: no such celebration in South Africa on Wednesday, when fans looked more inclined to root for Spain, or anything non-American, and would have likely preferred to see Egypt, a continental favorite, oppose the Iberian giants.

Next up for the Americans? either Brazil, to whom they lost 3-0 in round-robin play last week, or South Africa, depending on the winner of the match between those two today. Iraq, also in the tournament (a team that distinguished itself many times recently), was eliminated despite holding New Zealand and South Africa to a tie and losing to Spain 1-0. The Middle East is out of teams to root for. But my guess is that against all odds, the Egyptians will be faintly on the Americans' side come the final on Sunday.

See Also:

• Egypt at 2008 Beijing Olympics
• The 1956 Olympic Boycott Over the Suez Crisis
• Egypt: Country Profile, Briefings, Latest Issues
• Confederation Cup: Useless?
• Joshua Robinson's World Soccer at About