'We did not expect this!' - Bitter disappointment in Cairo as Egypt lose World Cup shot

Heads in Cairo hung heavy as the Pharaohs lost their place in the Qatar World Cup to the Senegalese Lions of Teranga after a nailbiting penalty shootout on Tuesday.

Portugese coach Carlos Queiroz tweeted after the game that the "dream is over", after once again finding his team in a shootout with the hopes of Egypt's 103-million strong population hanging in the balance.

Tuesday's match in Senegal was an eagerly awaited second chance for the Pharoahs to gain revenge after the Africa Cup of Nations final last month, which the Lions of Teranga won 4-2 on penalties in Cameroon after 120 goalless minutes.

But instead it was disappointment again.

"We didn't expect this," Emad Ramadan sullenly told AFP from a coffee shop in eastern Cairo where some 300 supporters gathered around televisions in a small garden, an urban phenomenon that has grown exceedingly rare over the past few years.

The sounds of the crowd were deafening - mothers teaching their children household cheers, fans playing red-white-and-black kazoos, and many a backseat-coach yelling instructions at the TV.

Three hundred voices cheered as star goalkeeper Mohammed El-Shennawy blocked goal after goal.

A couple of botched penalties, including a wayward spot kick from Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah, and one decisive kick by Senegalese forward Sadio Mane later, the hundreds of voices went completely silent.

"We've always said that one team gets to be the African champion, the other gets to go to the World Cup," Ramadan said. "Now they've done both."

Egypt is a seven-time African champion - a record on the continent - but has only qualified for the World Cup three times, the latest in 2018.

The first leg of the playoff in front of a 75,000-strong stadium in Cairo last Friday,