This ain't how they do it in Kentucky...

Last night, I attended the Cairo Derby. Instead of showcasing horses running around a circular track, this annual event pits Zamalek and Al-Ahly, Cairo's most renowned sporting clubs and bitter rivals, against each other in a soccer match that almost always carries significant implications. Yesterday's contest was no exception.

Aside from bragging rights, the title of the Egyptian Premier League was on the line. Al-Ahly, comfortably sitting nine points ahead of second place Zamalek in the standings, would extend their advantage to an insurmountable figure with a victory, essentially guaranteeing themselves the title.

Now, you'd think that a match-up of such epic proportions with so much on the line, (between the two best soccer clubs in all of Africa, mind you), would have quite a weighty price-tag, but we were able to obtain second-class tickets for only 30 LE a piece (under $6-- crazy). Despite its myriad of shortcomings, there are just somethings about Egypt that are almost too good to be true, and being able to get a ticket to the premier sporting event of the year for chump change is one of them.

So after downing some koshari, I departed for Cairo International Stadium at 5 o'clock along with three other friends. Although the game was slated to begin at 8 in the evening, we'd been warned by Egyptian students that the gates would probably be closed sometime between 6 and 7, making early arrival a necessity. We took a cab to the Nasser metro station and then rode the line to Kobri al-Kooba (for 1LE, mind you; metro is definitely the way to travel when in Cairo), where we got off and proceeded to make our way to the stadium.

Upon our approach, I wasn't sure if the stadium was about to host a soccer game or a speech by President Mubarak himself. There were military personal as far as the eye could see, forming a human wall around the stadium complex and lining the surrounding streets. Some sat atop horses while others were decked out in imposing-looking riot gear, shield and baton included. I suppose it shouldn't have come as a surprise to see such security measures in place; with almost no opportunities to vent their frustrations in the political realm, Egyptians pour all of their passion into their fanatical following of soccer. Understandably, their emotions sometimes boils over.

We waited at the gate for a bit for another friend to show up, and then we made our way in. Unbeknownst to us, we had entered on the Al-Ahly side. I guess this wasn't a huge deal, but as we were all actually pulling for the White Knights of Zamalek, we though it'd be a good idea to move to a different section. After talking to an officer, who agreed it was probably best for our bodily well-being to relocate, we were allowed to cross through the "DMZ" (an empty section of the stadium with riot lines on either side), as Josh from ND put it, and join our Zamalek brethren on the other end of the stadium.

There were still 45 minutes to kick-off by the time we found out seats (mine had a piece missing from it), but we were able to keep ourselves entertained thanks to the back-and-forth chanting between the red-clad Al-Ahly supporters and the white-wearing Zamalek fans. We were also exposed to what could quite possibly be the worst sound a large group of human beings can make: a high-pitched, hemorrhage-in-your-eardrum inducing whistling noise that collectively sounded like a cave full of shrieking bats. This was the noise either side emitted whenever they didn't like something (an opposing chant, an opposing goal, a bad call, etc), so, needless to say, we heard it quite often.

The game finally started up and it wasn't long before things got exciting. To the delight of the 30,000 people seated immediately around us, Zamalek scored in the first few minutes to take an early lead. The crowd went bananas. Things were off to a good start.

Al-Ahly answered back a while later, but the first 20 minutes or so of the game were really dominated by Zamalek. They had numerous shots on goal that just barely didn't squeak in, including this direct kick off a penalty that was thwarted by a great save by the goalkeeper. But despite the plethora of opportunities Zamalek provided for themselves, they couldn't capitalize on enough of them, and went into halftime with the score knotted up at two a piece.

The teams remained deadlocked for much of the second half until Zamalek took the lead in the 78th minute, going up 3-2. The throngs around us were in jubilation. With about 15 minutes left, it looked like Zamalek would earn a coveted victory and inflict a demoralizing blow to their despised rivals.

As the time continued to tick off the clock, the exictement and anticipation around us grew palpably. When the 90th minute had elapses, an official held up a sign digitally informing the players and everyone in attendence that their were four minutes of injury time, four final minutes for Al-Ahly to mount a comeback and possibly salvage the game with a tie.

I was just about to turn on my camera and film the final few minutes when Al-Ahly struck, knotting up the game 3 to 3 with no more than 270 seconds left to be played. As the goal-scoring player whipped off his shirt and ran across the field to celebrate in front of the ecstatic Ahly supporters, the members of the Zamalek section sat in stunned disbelief. They had been so close to pulling off a crucial victory, only to give up the equalizer in the final moments of the game. This type of outcome probably hurt worse than a loss would've.

Self-congratulations to myself for final uploading a video to YouTube and embedding on here. Yay technology!

On our way out of the stadium complex, we each bought a Zamalek flag to demonstrate our solidarity with the White Knights. However, after seeing the following scenario unfold, we tucked them away until we were a few miles away from the stadium: two kids walking a few feet in front of us, with Zamalek flags draped on their back, were swarmed by a group of 20+ teenage Ahly supporters who proceeded to rip at their clothes and push and shove them. Things looked like they were going to get absolutely out of hand before a responsible adult stepped in and calmed things down (he coincidentally happened to be 6'8 and 220- I wonder if that had anything to do with it). We liked to think we were Zamalek supporters, but we weren't staunch enough in our new found loyalty to be on the bleeding end of a blood bath.

All in all, it was a heck of an experience, and for only $6, definitely one I'd be willing to repeat in the future. I've got over three months left here in Cairo, so I'm sure more opportunities to indulge in soccer mania will present themselves.

By the way, here's a news write-up on the game in case you're interested in the finer bits.