ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Sock ball was long considered a poor man's game for Egyptian football lovers, but more recently it's become a show of celebration during Islam's holy month of Ramadan that takes over the streets.
Originally played with some old socks or scraps crammed inside of each other to form a ball, sock ball is likely to have been the first football played by both Egypt's massive soccer stars and the fans who root for them.
"The sock ball in Alexandria is so special, it has its own enjoyment, and honestly, not just anyone can play sock ball," said Ahmed Youssef, a sock player in the coastal city of Alexandria.
A game of skill and strategy, as loyal fan Ibrahim Abu Al Wafa described it, it requires a great deal of talent from players who learn to control a small ball in tight spaces on narrow streets to score on their rivals.
"It (sock ball) has its enjoyment and a wide popularity across Alexandria," he said of the game he has been in love with since the 1960s.
No expensive ball needed, no need for a club to play in. Everyone in the neighbourhood could join in for a game of football in the street.
"These tournaments have always been popular in Alexandria," said Mohamed Tarik Amin, 33, a driver who coordinates one of the sock ball tournaments in the city.
Over the years, the game has developed. Still called sock ball, players now kick around balls layered with duct tape and thread fashioned into the shape of a small basketball, Amin explained.
Essam Bakkar, 38, works in a clothes factory and has made balls from leather and old pieces of cloth since he was a teenager. Now he uses mass-produced balls wrapped in duct tape and sewing thread for a better grip on asphalted streets.
Nets are set up in side streets, and boys and men of all ages come together to either play or sit and watch from the pavements as players show off their game.
"Since a very long time ago, sock ball has been important here," Amin said.
(Reporting by Sayed Sheashaa, Writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Ros Russell)
