CAIRO – In the end, there were extraordinary scenes of celebration, as Algeria’s players raced behind the goal at the south end of the Cairo International Stadium and thousands of their fans rushed to the fences at the front of those stands. It had been 29 years since Algeria last won the Africa Cup of Nations, and this time the desire for victory was perhaps greater than ever before as players sought to honor the spirit of the Hirak, the pro-democracy protests that broke out in February and toppled the president two months later.
And yet it didn’t take long for reservations to cut through the jubiliation.