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Egypt plays Australia on Friday in a round of 32 match. It's the first time Egypt has ever advanced this far in the World Cup. A Seattle-area barber hopes his haircuts for the team are bringing them luck in the tournament. From member station KNKX in Seattle, Freddy Monares has the story.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPERS)
FREDDY MONARES, BYLINE: Maram Hammadi is trimming and cutting Davud Jusic's hair at Jazz Barbershop, north of Seattle. Their conversation quickly turns to Egypt's soccer team.
DAVUD JUSIC: They're in a very good place right now, Egypt.
MONARES: The barbershop is decorated with soccer-themed garland, TVs showing the matches and a poster with a World Cup bracket that is partially filled in. Hammadi, the shop's owner, who immigrated from Iraq, has a bit of insight on the Egyptian team.
JUSIC: Yeah.
MARAM HAMMADI: That's what they promised. They said, if we do good, we come back and we all give you more stuff.
MONARES: Jazz Barbershop has been cutting hair for the Egyptian players during their stay in Washington state. Full disclosure, I also get my hair cut here. Hammadi got the gig through a client who had connections to the team. At first, he thought it was a prank.
HAMMADI: In Egypt culture, very funny culture, always joking, always joke. So we thought it was a joke.
MONARES: It was not a joke. A day before Egypt played in Seattle, Hammadi and four of his barbers canceled all their clients and nervously packed their bags to meet the team at a downtown hotel.
HAMMADI: Two gloves, two brushes, two everything. And I don't know - like, you know, bunch of aprons we didn't need. Just extra towels.
MONARES: This is a big deal for Hammadi. He grew up playing soccer in Iraq, but he fled the country alone because of the war. He spent three years at a refugee camp in Jordan before moving to Spokane in 2012, when he was 18 years old. Hammadi washed dishes but wanted a better job. So he tried beauty school and stuck with it for the past decade.
HAMMADI: I have the same passion, same love for what I do. Even on my days off, I come here.
MONARES: All of this has led to the World Cup when Hammadi and his barbers nervously arrived at team Egypt's hotel. Once passing through strict security where even his glasses were checked for cameras, Hammadi says he felt like he became part of the team. They all ate, hung out and watched soccer together.
HAMMADI: I was talking to one of the players, called Marmoush, and I said my dream is, like, to see you, and now we're just, like, talking normal and stuff. And he just tap on me and he goes, maybe you deserve it, you know?
MONARES: Over the course of eight hours, Hammadi and his barbers cut the hair of 24 players. Mohamed Salah was last in line. He's the country's star player, and fans call him the Egyptian King. He checked other players' haircuts before choosing Hammadi to cut his. Hammadi was so nervous, his vision went blurry.
HAMMADI: I turned around to look at my clipper. It's in the front of me. I don't - like, in the beginning, I couldn't see it. You know, I was, like, such a blurry. And so I act all like - I turn around. I'm like, God, please, like, give me the - come on. This is all I do all life. You know? How come I lost it?
MONARES: Hammadi took his time and finished the haircut. Salah, the Egyptian King, approved. Egypt has since tied two games and recorded its first ever World Cup win. And Hammadi has watched it all, including one in person, thanks to the Egyptian team.
HAMMADI: Every single game we watch, and we pray our haircuts and - you know, will be good luck on them, hopefully can take them somewhere.
MONARES: When Egypt plays Australia, Hammadi will be watching from his shop, hoping that his work can help Egypt win its second ever World Cup match. For NPR News, I'm Freddy Monares in Seattle.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS' "LEAD ME HOME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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