Cairo: Braving the cold weather in the Ramses Street, one of Cairo’s major areas, Farid Abbas keeps on waving the national flag to motorists to lure them to buy it. 

Egypt beat Cameroon 3-1 on Monday night setting up a rematch against their regional arch rivals on Thursday in the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations. Abbas, a commerce school graduate, has been doing a brisk business.

“The victory over Cameroon, and the Algeria match have perked up the sales of the national flag,” said Abbas with a smile.

“People eagerly await the match against Algeria in the hope that our national team will teach them a hard lesson on the field for what their fans did more than two months ago in Sudan,” he told Gulf News.

On November 18, Algeria beat Egypt 1-0 in a crucial World Cup qualifying playoff in Sudan where Egyptian fans were reportedly harassed and attacked by Algerians. The incident triggered a political crisis between the two Arab countries with Egypt recalling its ambassador from Algiers in protest. He is still in Cairo.

A few days earlier, the office of EgyptAir, the national carrier, and businesses owned by Egyptians were ransacked in Algeria. Meanwhile, angry Egyptians clashed with the police when they stopped them from marching on the Algerian embassy in Cairo.

Over the past two days, Egyptian officials have apparently played down tensions with Algeria and urged the local media to be calm and preserve the “brotherly” ties with Algerians. The Arab League, meanwhile, urged Egypt and Algeria to use their match to “transcend any differences”.

“These soothing statements have not curbed the frenzy about (Thursday’s) match,” said Abbas, the flags vendor. Wearing a hat featuring the three distinctive colours of the Egyptian flag, he said his prices range from LE15 (Dh10) to LE30 (Dh20) depending on the size.

“People are interested in big flags to display them on the hoods of their cars or on their balconies.” He added that to meet the high demand, some vendors sell Egyptian flags made in China.

Shops in this sprawling city have displayed the national flag on their fronts. Some Egyptians have painted it on their cars in a surge of patriotism, seen by observers as a reflection of the influence wielded by soccer in this country of 80 million.

“Despite Egypt’s failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, footbal remains the only field where ordinary Egyptians can see achievements,” said Mahmoud Faraj, a sociologist. Egypt holds a record six titles of the African Cup of Nations, the continent’s most prestigious tournament.

“It is the only source of joy and equality in this country where the social and economic divides are widening,” Faraj told this newspaper.