North Africa’s offside

Egypt and Algeria have never been the best or closest of friends. When their paths have crossed, most notably in the heyday of Arab nationalism and non-alignment, it was as rivals rather than collaborators, though post-revolutionary Egypt did support the Algerian struggle for independence and Algeria sent token contingents to help Egypt in its wars with Israel. For the young Egyptian and Algerian soccer fans that were out on the streets waving their national flags on and off for a week in mid-November, and sometimes attacking each other with sticks and stones, all that is ancient history. What mattered to them were the insults to pride that filled the airwaves and the Internet across North Africa before, during and after the two fiercely contested soccer matches for a slot in the World Cup tournament, to be held in South Africa in 2010. Alaa Mubarak, the son of Egyptian President Hosni