The Egyptian national soccer team (above) has had an up-and-down week at the Confederations Cup to say the least.
1. They played brilliantly against Brazil, coming back from 3-1 down to tie, only to commit a handball in injury time (penalty kick converted by Kaka).
2. They played even more brilliantly to beat Italy 1-0 (see celebrating fans below).
3. They then collapsed and lost 3-0 to the USA, thus missing out on the chance to move on to the semi-finals.
4. Several of the players then had their hotel rooms
robbed.
5. The South African media subsequently
reported that the players were robbed not by burglars but by prostitutes who had been invited up by the players.
Egypt appears unlikely to qualify for the World Cup, so this trip represented their team's only chance to achieve glory in South Africa.
Meanwhile, in much more exciting, but unrelated, news, north Korea qualified for the World Cup finals this week with a draw against Saudi Arabia. They join south Korea, Japan, and Australia in representing Asia at the 2010 tournament.
