The rivalry between the two Cairo giants is so big and total that Al-Ahly fans don’t drink milk because it’s white (“Like the Zamalek’ shirt”).
Whether it is sports, politics, literature, or economics, very few people managed to make Al-Ahly and Zamalek fans agree on something. Bassem Morsi, the Zamalek striker, actually succeeded in this task, but not in positive circumstances. At least for him.
Morsi is a footballer that grew from below. No connections, no strong agent and no bombastic headlines in newspapers. Simple as it sounds - a guy who worked hard and succeeded.
He never was a straight forward goal machine clear. Still, with a strong kick on both feet and fine headers, Morsi is just this kind of strikers who push forward, open the dead space, determining the pace of the attack, carry the team on their back in the decisive moments, and most importantly put the tip of the shoe in the right place in the time right. Such is Morsi. A winner.
After several years in small clubs as Petrojet and Al-Entag, Zamalek saw the potential, and in 2014 Morsy landed in the Cairo luxury club. Before he arrived, Zamalek was in a deep-down mud. The entire Egyptian football drowned after Port Said disaster in 2012, and Zamalek in particular, for an entire decade saw the back of bitter rival Al-Ahly, winning local and continental championships, while itself have not won one championship. Morsi, who realized that he arrived at a huge club, took the opportunity ‘with both legs’. 19 goals, Egypt‘s top scorer and the championship silverware, in his first season in the white uniform of the Knights from the prestigious district of Cairo, were a final stamp - Morsi is a superstar. This success also earned him the call-up to the national team.
Since then, he scored on almost every appearance in the Pharaohs’ uniform. Even when his father died, he flew straight from the funeral to Alexandria, to score and pass an assist against Tanzania. Morsi became a favourite by many in Egypt, including several city rival fans.
The preparations for the upcoming African Cup of Nations have put the Egyptian people in madness.
The team did not participate in the last three tournaments, and among the masses, there is a strong desire to bring the trophy to Cairo.
Oddly, the Argentine coach Hector Cúper decided not to call Morsi to the squad, saying “it’s not what we're looking for now”.
This decision made many people mad, especially in Zamalek, who wanted to see their man starring in the AFCON. Surprisingly, the protest of the Zamalekawyies has been joined by Al-Ahly fans, who wanted to see Morsi helping the team regain the African title, the way the real goal - FIFA World Cup 2018.
In different forums around the net, a campaign for his return has been launched. Some Ahlawyies even wrote in comments "Morsi it’s Morsi it’s Morsi" in an indirect paraphrase for the late Egyptian president of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Morsi was supported by Al-Ahly fans as part of the 2011 revolution, and later in 2013 coup d’etat.
This campaign showed that there are still things that the fans of Egypt’s biggest rivals can agree on.
One of them is the notion that the national team's recent success is directly linked to attempts to enhancing the image of General Abd al-Fattah a-Sisi in the eyes of Egypt people. Many in Egypt believe that the Egyptian team's success, is a designed move by the government, to hide the truth about the recent decision a-Sisi made with the Egyptian economy.
Simultaneously, an exciting commercial showing the national teams players who go with the uniform through ruins of burning buildings to represent Egypt which tries to encourage the unity around the team was sharply criticized in social media. Add to that the comments of Cúper that claimed that “Egypt’s history in African tournaments won't help, and I do not know where we will go in the tournament. My goal is the World Cup" undermined the public confidence. You have a rare condition: Unlike past tournaments, there is no full consensus in Egypt for the national team.
Of course, if Egypt, among the biggest favourites to win this AFCON, would really win it, probably no one will remember Morsi, the consent of Al-Ahly and Zamalek's fans or the tension with the government. A-Sisi would be photographed sailing the Nile with the team and the cup, and for the and Egypt will be celebrating with great joy.
And if Egypt won’t win it?
Ya welli.
Only god knows.