The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Last night was a special occasion in Egyptian history. By 9 pm, every household, café, and every possible venue you could think of was packed with football fans from all governorates. Opposing supporters, such as Barcelona and Real Madrid fans, sat at the same table to witness the long-anticipated football match at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain, between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. Even some of the minority of Egyptians who don’t even like football were there.

But the question here is, “Liverpool have participated in so many UEFA Champions Leagues, so why is this year any different?” Though the answer is obvious for all of you, we’ll say it anyway. This year was so different, because the King of Egypt, Mohamed Salah, was playing for the second year in a row with the chance of redeeming Liverpool after its unfortunate defeat against Real Madrid in last year’s championship. And he certainly did not fail to deliver as Salah and his comrades slayed the opposition with a triumphant landslide of 2-0.

Now that we know how the match ended let’s rewind a bit. We can’t call ourselves professional football analysts, so we’ll give some general feedback about the players’ performances. First thing’s first, we have to give a round of applause to the scorers, without whom this article would not exist: our very own Mohamed Salah, and Belgian footballer, Divock Origi. The Egyptian king scored the first goal of the night with a penalty kick that we are sure will not be forgotten for years to come. Then, just when the thousands of Liverpool were getting nervous, Origi put everyone at ease as he scored the decisive goal in the 88^th minute. It was definitely a mentally exhausting night as we endured all the colours of emotion. You can check the lineup of the teams, with their respective ratings, and other statistics on the UEFA’s official website.

Since Liverpool’s memorable victory in the semi-finals on the 7^th of May with a score of 4 – 0 against Barcelona, football fanatics were counting down the days, and so were we! During this period, we did a bit of research to prep ourselves for this article, as we were sure that Salah would meet our optimistic predictions. We found out that this match was the second all-English final, after 2008 which was contested between Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow. Also, this is Liverpool’s sixth time to bring the cup home after five previous successes in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, and 2005.

So what is next for Liverpool after their epic win? Automatically, the team is now qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage. More importantly, they get to play against Chelsea, the winners of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup on the 14^th of August in Istanbul. Liverpool has won the Super Cup 3 times before, so, following the nationwide hype expectations are quite high.  

Be sure to check out Mo Salah’s post-match interview from yesterday:

P.S. Mohamed Salah is actually among the top contenders for the prestigious Ballon d’or, and has recently shared the EPL’s Golden Boat with Liverpool FC teammate Sadio Mané.