Egypt-Algeria: A proper rivalry
Wed Nov 18 08:49AM
It you are one of those insular types who thinks that Blackburn v Burnley is the biggest rivalry in world football, or who excitedly predicts 'it's all going to go off' whenever one of 3,718 annual London derbies takes place, Early Doors advises you to watch today's World Cup play-off between Egypt and Algeria.
The two teams have hated each other for a while - at least since 1989 when Egypt's doctor lost an eye after getting glassed in the face by an Algerian player.
Today's game was rendered necessary by the Pharaohs' extraordinary 2-0 win on Saturday, featuring a crucial 95th-minute header by Emad Motaeb, which left the two countries with identical records in their group.
The fixture in Cairo was marred by violence. Three Algerian players were injured when the team bus was stoned, while skirmishes broke out all over the place, including at a joint pop concert by crooners Cheb Khaled and Mohamed Mounir, which is a bit like a Michael Buble gig descending into chaos.
The shockwaves were felt as far away as France, where rioting took place in three major cities including Marseille, where thugs set fire to, and sank, several boats in the harbour.
Rather than playing the game at a genuinely neutral venue like Dubai or - here's an idea - South Africa, CAF chose the most politically unstable venue they could find; Sudan.
Why Sudan? Presumably Somalia was booked up.
A 15,000-strong police force will attempt to keep rival fans apart, but if things do get out of hand you can rely on the two teams to calm everybody down.
Oh, what's that? You can't.
Algerian FA chief Mohammed Raouraoua blamed Saturday's violence on his Egyptian counterpart Samir Zaher, whom he described as: "The origin of all the events that have occurred, including the barbaric aggression that injured our players."
Egpyt, meanwhile, denied the bus attack ever took place, presumably accusing the bloodied Algerian players of some Harlequins-style fakery.
And if a chance to watch a live expression of pure hatred were not inducement enough, let's not forget there is a place at the World Cup for the winner.
All told, it rather knocks the European play-offs into a cocked hat. Still, we've got live coverage of the
whole World Cup shebang, including all the build up from the Stade de France where our resident Irishman Sean Fay will be donning his oversized green, white and orange hat to cheer on Trap's boys.
Watch Egypt v Algeria LIVE at 5.30pm on Wednesday on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player
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