Rangers’ Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra will face one of the biggest games of his life this week as his national team face Egypt in a playoff for the final African place in next year’s World Cup. Egypt won a much-anticipated match 2-0 in Cairo on Saturday to trigger the one-off decider and sparked wild celebrations in the Egyptian capital after saving their World Cup hopes with a late, late goal.
Bougherra played the full game for Algeria having recoverwed from the injury that ruled him out of recent matches for his club. He will now face a second vital qualifier within a week as he aims to help his country book their place at South Africa 2010.
Algeria had travelled to Egypt knowing that a win or draw would see them progress to the finals tournament next summer. A 1-0 loss would have kept them in pole position in the group and guaranteed them the last qualification spot at Egypt’s expense.
The high-tempo grudge match exploded into life after just three minutes when Amr Zaki put Egypt in front and Algeria were caught between a rock and a hard place. While continuing to try for a vital goal on the counter they concentrated on defensive solidity to preserve top spot and they looked to have done enough when 90 minutes ticked by.
Incredibly, the referee added six minutes of injury time and in the 95th minute Emad Metaab headed home to make it 2-0 to Egypt. The score-line meant the sides were level on points, goal difference, goals scored, points gained against each other and goals scored against each other. The sides will now face each other in a play-off decider in Sudan on Wednesday.
The game has been given an added edge by the bitter rivalry between the sides. Stones were thrown at the Algerian team bus when the squad arrived in Egypt and the history between the sides is particularly ugly.
After a match in 1989, the Egyptian team doctor lost the sight in one eye when Algerian player Lakhdar Belloumi attacked him with a bottle at a function. Belloumi was convicted by an Egyptian court in absentia and an Interpol warrant for his arrest was only dropped this year.
Wednesday’s deciding match will be settled at a neutral venue in Sudan where Egypt will be slim favourites to progress after Saturday’s last-gasp win.
Last updated: 15 November 2009, 09:32
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