It has been an interesting story, Bob Bradley’s two years in Egypt. The former U.S. national team coach, dismissed in the summer of 2011, found a place coaching Egypt, but during a time of historic upheaval there.

For most of the subsequent two years, Bradley did well to keep Egypt competitive after revolution and the Port Said Massacre led to the country’s domestic league shut down, most of the time, since he has been coach of Africa’s most accomplished side.

Egypt stormed through group play, in Africa qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, winning all six games, and reached the final 10.

But Egypt was matched with Ghana in the home-and-away match to determine one of the five Africa teams going to Brazil next summer — and Ghana is probably the best team in Africa at the moment.

Egypt has not played in the World Cup since 1990, which Egyptians see as unnatural, and the football association there took a chance on the intense American coach, after nothing else had worked in previous years.

And things looked as good as they could look, in a ruptured country … until the score from Ghana came in yesterday:

Ghana 6, Egypt 1.

Egypt has another game to play, but they would have to win 5-0 or greater to qualifying, and that will not happen against Ghana.

Bradley conceded that the hope of a World Cup was what had kept his team together, during his tough two years, and that is pretty much gone, now.

Egypt’s home game is set, for the moment, to be played in Cairo, but Ghana has complained to Fifa that it is too dangerous for Egypt to host the game, and Ghana probably is right.

Apparently, the government gave the team an armed escort out of the airport, when they returned from Ghana, fearing violence from disappointed Egypt fans.

A few weeks ago, talk was that this Egypt home game could be played in Dubai, and it would be no surprise if it is. If Egypt is further pummeled in Cairo, things could get ugly.

I covered Bob Bradley, when he was coach of the U.S. national team. I particularly remember him from the trip to El Salvador in 2009, where I covered the World Cup qualifier for the New York Times.

For a guy who looks wound up so tight he might throw an embolism at any moment, Bradley was remarkably cool, when I spoke with him at the stadium, the day before the match.

I remember talking about using Landon Donovan on the right side of midfield, instead of forward, which Bradley was fomenting, and Bradley patiently (because that sort of positional second-guessing would set off someone like, say, Bruce Arena) explained his motives behind it. Mostly, that being on the right gave Landon more freedom than did being a forward, in part because he would be more likely to be defended by a smaller player than some big central defenders who might beat him up.

They escaped with a 2-2 tie, at San Salvador, after being down 2-0, so it was acceptable, particularly since it came during the “we don’t win in Central America/Mexico” aspect of American soccer history, which I had documented a few days earlier in NYT. And the atmosphere was electric.

Bradley will not survive in Egypt, though he has not been fired yet because of a clause that would award him something like $300,000 if he is dismissed before the end of qualifying. Egypt’s FA doesn’t want to pay that.

But, that 6-1 game aside, his stay in Egypt has given that country a reason to like an American, and Bradley has done about as well as could be expected, leading a team distracted by political upheaval and grown rusty from a lack of competitive club games.