Egypt return to heroes' welcome

Posted Tuesday, February 02, 2010 by BBC.com

Egypt's record-breaking team returned to a triumphant reception in Cairo on Monday, after lifting the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time in a row.

President Hosni Mubarak greeted Pharaohs coach Hassan Shehata and his players at Cairo International Airport, along with thousands of jubilant fans.

Shehata's side claimed a record seventh African title on Sunday after beating Ghana 1-0 in the final in Luanda.

The Egyptian press hailed the team's "well-earned" and "historic" victory.

Monday's newspapers also indicated that the team's latest win was even more significant after the Pharaohs' elimination from the 2010 World Cup finals at the hands of arch rivals Algeria.

"Egyptians, kings of Africa for the seventh time," Al-Ahram's front page headline proclaimed, praising "an achievement without precedent, the greatest in football history".

"The national squad has crushed those who qualified for the World Cup," the paper added, referring to the African champions' victories over Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana on their way to the 2010 Nations Cup title.

President Mubarak had asked the Egyptian players two months ago to forget about their World Cup disappointment and focus on retaining their trophy in Angola, and congratulated each player individually for doing so.

The BBC's Inas Mazhar in Cairo, however, said that the team's homecoming was tinged with a sense of disappointment that the Pharoahs will not be able to follow up their Angola triumph with an appearance in South Africa in the summer.

"There were tears of joy and at the same time tears of disappointment because Egypt have missed [out on] the World Cup," she said.

"Egypt wanted to be there for the first World Cup to be held on African soil."