CAIRO: As Egypt bowed out of the World Cup with a dramatic 3-2 defeat to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina in the last 16 on Tuesday, supporters in Cairo rose to applaud a team that had taken the country further than ever before.
“We’re heartbroken because we believed we could go even further,” said Ismail Fawzy, 39, who watched the match with hundreds of supporters at a cafe in Cairo’s eastern Heliopolis district.
“But when you think about everything this team has done, you can only be proud. They gave us memories we’ll never forget.
“Yes, we lost, but history has already been made,” he told AFP.
For the first time in a World Cup, Egypt won a match, advanced beyond the group stage and progressed through the first knockout round, in the process rewriting the nation’s footballing history.
