When Egypt took the lead against Belgium in their opening World Cup match on Monday, decades of doubt gave way to belief for 62-year-old Bahgat Abbas. Standing beneath the historic arcades near the Basilica in Cairo's eastern Heliopolis district, Abbas leapt with the crowd as cups rattled across tables and the roar from television screens spilled into the street. "I remember watching Egypt in 1990," Abbas told AFP, waving an Egyptian flag as car horns blared around him.