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Post by hal2000 on Nov 16, 2009 19:14:57 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2009 21:19:40 GMT
More than 35,000 Irish are descending upon Paris Wednesday for the final qualifying match.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 17, 2009 9:45:23 GMT
It shouldn't be a problem anymore, should it?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 11:42:57 GMT
Paris is turning green as the day advances. The Irish are arriving for tonight's match and the fans are already wandering on the Champs Elysées in their football jerseys. And the Algerians are reaching the flashpoint for tonight's match in Khartoum, also wearing green jerseys.
The police are going to be out en masse tonight, mostly for the Algerians, because the return match against Egypt is a point of very touchy national honor, whereas for the Irish and the French, it's just a game and a reason to celebrate or seek consolation.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 19:57:14 GMT
Oh, it's going to be a hot night in Paris tonight. If Algeria does not win its match, I fear that many dozens of cars will burn. Horns have been honking outside for the last 3 hours and I have never seen so many flags.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 20:37:23 GMT
Eire-France: Eire 1 - France 0 ... after 20 or so minutes ...
The French are getting nervous already. I don't really care. If Eire qualifies for the World Cup, I will be happy to support them.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 20:41:22 GMT
Wow, Algeria beat Egypt. That's a relief -- the cars of the neighborhood will not burn tonight. Algeria is qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1986 and it is the only Arab team that qualified (unless France manages to qualify as well).
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 22:13:38 GMT
Not looking all that good for France, as the end approaches, especially since the French goal was not acceptable even though it was validated...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2009 6:37:18 GMT
... and so France qualified without deserving it.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 19, 2009 12:22:12 GMT
Big Algerian celebrations here - must be huge in relevant Paris neighbourhoods and suburbs.
There is also a fairly large Egyptian community here - much more established, and including Coptic Christians and Jews as well as Muslims (I don't mean everyone is necessarily remotely religious, just talking about community origin). Only in the last twenty years or so has a large Maghrebi population immigrated here. Not "large" as in France, but definitely a presence.
I admit I'd have preferred to see Ireland - nothing against France, just because Ireland is a small country and it would mean a lot for them.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2009 13:27:55 GMT
When I took the metro after work yesterday, as we surfaced at Barbès you could see that the crowds had already invade the streets and all traffic was stopped. All through the Goutte d'Or and La Chapelle, there were Algerian flags everywhere and cars honking for hours.
The Algerians are particularly thrilled because it is the first time they have qualified since 1986.
Meanwhile, Slovakia is doubly thrilled -- to be qualified for the first time and also to have eliminated Russia.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 19, 2009 22:28:32 GMT
Too bad you didn't have your camera! Perhaps we should try to get some pics. For people who don't know Paris, one of the métro lines at Barbès-Rochechouart is elevated from what - Blanche to Stalingrad?
Kerouac, why would Egyptians have it in for Algeria? Evidently Egyptians stoned an Algerian players' bus earlier on. I know that Maghreb and Middle East are very different cultures but I'd have never thought of such an enmity.
I remember celebrating a historic win by Cameroon (Cameroun) around there.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2009 21:08:07 GMT
It is sort of common knowledge in North Africa, and I am sorry to say it, but "Everybody hates Algerians." I have the opportunity to talk to lots of Arabs, both in France and in the various Arab countries, and the basic feeling is that 1. Algerians are the worst cheapskates of the entire Arab world, never wanting to pay a fair price and 2. they have a superiority complex in North Africa but precious little to back it up. Naturally, neither of these is a reason to attack or even feel animosity against a sports team, whether or not these nasty generalities are true. As you know, once a stereotype gets started, it is really hard to shake off.
And of course in France, the Algerians, Tunisians, Moroccans normally get along quite well, probably because adversity creates friendships and the ethnic French absolutely cannot tell them apart. Even I am guilty of this, because I have some Maghrebi colleagues whose exact nationality is unknown to me. And we non-Arabs just learned last week that the new young chauffeur of the top manager was actually Egyptian, because the other three groups were jibing him cruelly about the match results.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 25, 2009 21:21:44 GMT
I knew about the respective stereotypes between Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans, but didn't think there was enough contact between Algeria and Egypt (There is Libya in-between everywhere, and in the north also Tunisia) for them to have much of an opinion about one another. I had heard the cheapskate and other stereotypes from Tunisians and Moroccans. Moroccans also insist - with some truth - that they have a much more varied and sophisticated cuisine, as after all Algerians make "nothing" but couscous with meat and vegetables (of course this is an exaggeration) and Tunisian food is half Italian and far too spicy.
I think the different histories of both colonisation and decolonisation are a major factors between the Maghrebi nationalities.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2009 21:33:39 GMT
When I used to go to Jeddah on business, I had some Moroccan colleagues who would proudly tell me that they used an Algerian accent at the souk to get the cheapest prices.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 26, 2009 11:09:46 GMT
I had no idea! Thanks both of you.
I know a couple of Tunisians and Moroccans here but nobody from Algeria.
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