getting really loud

Now it’s getting so loud that even the dogs are afraid to bark anymore.

If I were just sitting here and knew nothing about the World Cup, I would definitely think a revolution was in progress. It has that sort of hard-edged rage to it.

I’m wondering if all future Algeria-Egypt matches might not have to be held in neutral countries from now on. My understanding is that this has been building through a series of ugly incidents over about 20 years. In 1989 an Algerian star player is said to have thrown a bottle and struck an Egyptian coach doctor in the face, costing him an eye. [ADDENDUM: one of my students says it was a doctor, not a coach.]

Then Egypt beat Algeria to advance to the 1990 World Cup. And then are the more recent incidents between the two teams. Last night’s match had a couple of near fights and at least 7 yellow cards, and there could easily have been a few reds.