Algeria-Egypt friendly match in the offing to seal reconciliation

According to various sources from both sides, there is every indication that Algeria and Egypt are now heading for a brotherly reconciliation with the holding soon of a friendly match between the national football squads of the two countries at a venue still to be set.

• The tense atmosphere between the two countries has significantly eased in the aftermath of the sacking of the former chairman of the Egyptian football federation, Samir Zaher, who was widely blamed in Egypt itself for having fuelled the damaging Egyptian media onslaught against Algeria and its symbols following the decisive Algeria – Egypt World cup qualifiers in Cairo and later on in Khartoum last November.
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• Troublesome Samir Zaher was rightly fired from his post after a decision by an Egyptian tribunal.
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• Just 48 hours after Zaher’s sacking, the new head of the Egyptian football federation Hani Abou Reida reportedly got into contact with his Algerian counterpart Mohamed Raouraoua in Johannesburg in a bid to clear the air and undo the Algerian-Egyptian rift with the proposed holding of a friendly match between the two Arab nations so as to seal a salutary reconciliation.
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• It should be noted that Egyptian President Hosni Moubarak’s recent visit to Algiers during which he expressed his condolences to President Abdellaziz Bouteflika after the death last week of his brother Mustapha, has greatly helped in the swift activation of the ongoing reconciliation process between the two countries.