AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS – Libya, ”go Pkvhome”.

Libya became the first team to be eliminated from the competition after giving a good account of themselves against a strong Ivory Coast team. Libya fell behind to a PkvDrogba tap in. With the ground virtually full the Egyptian supporters realised that if the result stayed as it was their team could be in trouble, as they have not beaten Morocco in the last 20 years. Chants of Lib-ya, Lib-ya, came from all parts of the ground,and the players responded managing to equalise and even go looking for a winner. Ivory Coast, upped the tempo and forced a winner.

During the warm up to the main event Egypt v Morocco, the noise sounded out once again but this time the home supporters were chanting for their own team. When the game kicked off the fans roar reached its peak after 13 seconds when the first chance of the game went begging. After this Morocco took control and dominated the first half. The Egyptians vented their anger and chants final ank against Libya started during half time. Exchanging of pepsi bottles took place from Libyans below and their Egyptian counterparts above. Then the police moved into action using formations dating back to roman times. Firstly they lined up 3 to 4 deep at the bottom of the stand and then advanced en masse towards the retreating Libyan supporters who were quickly making an exit for themselves by removing seats and throwing them towards the police.

The police campaign came to a halt half way up the stand as they stood their ground the Libyans were becoming more adventurous but were being showered from above.Then the right flank charged up to the Libyans and quickly retreated. Two minutes later the section was empty and then the rest of Libyans quickly followed suite leaving the police to protect an area of empty seating.

This left the Libyan’s as the first team and supporters to make their exit from the competition.

AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS – Around Egypt in 3 days.

The first round of matches have now been completed and I have followed the tournament as it has unfolded around the country.

Everything has fallen into place, sometimes more by luck than judgement, with a great deal of persistence thrown in. I opted to take the train out of Cairo to Alexandria, on Sunday and spent 10 minutes finding the correct place to buy my ticket. I approached what I understood to be the correct counter at Ramses station. After taking some time to get myself understood the clerk called a colleague over who instructed me to try the other side of the building. I left somewhat bemused and searched for this place. A member of the public came to my rescue and pointed me back to where I had come from! I made a beeline back to the same clerk who straight away produced the ticket I had asked for and even confirmed what I had asked for in English.

Taking the football out of Cairo has opened up the competition to other football hot beds in Egypt. In both Alexandria and Port Said the locals were out in force and provided competition for the visiting fans from other countries with their chants of Masr(Egypt).

The best support so far has come from the Guineans who entered the Alexandria Border Guard Stadium whilst the earlier game was still taking place. The terraces were already crowded but they poured in to the end behind one goal occupied by Tunisians. The Tunisians showed their disapproval by booing and waving the Guinea supporters away but led by a witch doctor and what looked like Babar the elephant, they continued to flood in packed this part of the stadium still further. They held their own and joined in the chaos that ensued with lots of chanting going on, once again, irrelevant to what was happening in the game. The local Egyptians being led by cheerleaders. Rent a crowd (from now on to be known as Guantanamo supporters due to their uniforms) cheering when ordered to. Finally the Tunisians who were delighted with what they saw after a shaky start and had some clinical finishing by Dos Santos to thank for the margin of their victory. The Zambians had by now disappeared back into the crowd and were not heard after they took an early lead.

Before the next match the Guinea supporters made their way to the other end of the stadium where their drums provided a lively background to a dull game. Whilst at the front of the stand a line up that any team would have been scared of danced away. After initially thinking that the South Africans should win this game I found myself hoping that the Guinea team would hold on, as their support had won me over. Even to the extent that I would rather we had the tournaments first goalless draw than South Africa score. This wasn’t to be as the Guineans scored two late on for a memorable victory. On the way out a Minister from Guinea was seen being driven out and the crowd went wild, three of the supporters were on the front of the car as it tried to leave the stadium.

In Port Said, a town with a much more relaxed feel, the locals once again came out in force, although the majority of one end was left for the Guantanamo fans. The town used to enjoy a tax free status, but I was informed this was abolished in 2002. This act has affected the popularity of the President and during the second game whilst Senegal were struggling to break down Zimbabwe a poster of Hosni Mubarak himself was pointed out whilst a fan shouted ‘we let Hosni in the stadium and the football is bad’.

Opted to take the coach back from Port Said to Cairo as the train would take four hours. The bus should take three. They didn’t tell us that the time may vary according to the driver. As I watched from the front of the coach we went past all traffic, in either lane on the straight dual carriageway. Our drivers skills were such that on this same road he managed to negotiate a tricky chicane (which I couldn’t see) whilst weaving in and out of two cars. The journey from Port Said to the Military stadium, which lies on the outskirts of Cairo had been done in two hours.

Now I have two days rest in Cairo before doing it all over again.

A Bandarqqrest Wayne in order

Once upon a time, after partaking in a couple of social halves at a local tavern, I found myself in the company of a young ginger-haired Scottish lady. Being a personable soul, I overcame the handicap of her ridiculous accent to engage in polite conversation. Unfortunately, kindness is rarely rewarded. Before I really knew what was happening, the red-headed caber-tosser proceeded to take advantage, physically. Fast forward seven years, and Elizabeth still has her claws in me, and my chances of ever breaking free are slim.

I share this tale with you not to whine about the wife, Betty the sweaty, but because the England players currently find themselves in an almost identical situation, just one little mistake can lead to years of regret. As long as the England players avoid pulling a ‘Gerry’, a happy ending should be on the cards against Ecuador. The Three Lions should be Satta Matka supported at 4/9.

Michael Owen is a goal scoring machine when fit, unfortunately, he hasn’t been fit since 1998. As Sven refuses to play Walcott as cover and Crouch is clearly not of international class, the Owen injury could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. England will definitely benefit from a holding midfielder while Gerrard will be given the license to support Rooney up front. Wayne’s recovery from injury has been bordering on miraculous, I’m not a religious man, but I’ll be praying that the Roonatic bags the opener at 9/2.

England have played exceptionally well in the first half of their matches so far, before wilting like a Frenchman in a drinking competition. Another impressive start against a poor Ecuadorian team would allow Sven to rest Wayne at about the hour mark, with the game well and truly in the bag. A half-time full-time win for Sven’s men is a value option at 6/5.

Correct score betting is never an easy market to crack, the bookies have a built in percentage so fat it makes Brazil’s Ronaldo look like Pete Doherty. However, when there’s a short priced favourite in a match, the bookies edge is dramatically reduced. A perm of a 2-0 / 3-0 win pays out at 11/4, with 2-0 being the preferred selection at 6/1.

Germany meet Sweden in Saturday’s opener, and somewhat controversially, I’ll be playing heavily on the Swedes. Forget the Klose’s of this world, disregard the Podolski’s and never mind the Ballack’s, the Swedes are more than a match for the Germans, you should get involved at 9/2.

Admittedly, the Germans topped their group, but Northern Ireland could have qualified from that poor bunch. Swedish coach Lars ‘must have knocked his’ Lagerback is genuinely confident of victory, and rightly so. The Swedes are 11/1 pokes to win by a 1-0 scoreline, help yourself.

Argentina v Mexico will bring Saturday’s action to a close and this one is a total no-brainer. FIFA may believe that Mexico are the superior team, but their rankings are a lot like me, the last time I requested my marital rights; seriously flawed. The bookies are offering 2/5 about an Argentina victory in 90 minutes, I implore you, play, and play hard.

The weekend’s action will end when Portugal face Holland for the right to meet England in the last eight. I haven’t been overly impressed Satta result with the Portuguese so far, Figo looks shot, Pauleta has once again failed to deliver on the big stage and Ronaldo’s bag of tricks may be pleasing to the eye, but they’re about as effective as a ‘No Drinking’ sign in Glasgow. The Dutch qualified with ease from the supposed group of death, the Orange looks tasty at 5/4

For the first goal scorer in this match, look no further that Robin Van Persie at 15/2. Van the man has the sweetest touch since Van Gogh and is due a good performance ear. On a related note, Peter Crouch is also a Post-Impressionist.

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