Moments after Uruguay scored the 89th-minute goal that dashed Egypt’s hopes of winning its first World Cup match in decades, the TV cameras flashed to superstar forward Mohamed Salah on the bench, wearing a grim expression.
But some 2,000 miles away in Cairo, another Mohamed Salah shrugged off the loss. After seven years of chaos and hard times, he said, the important thing is Egypt is finally playing on the world stage again.
“For the people, this is a sign that things are finally moving in the right direction,” said Salah, a 47-year-old accountant who happens to have the same name as the Egyptian player who has almost single-handedly restored a sense of national pride in his home country.