FIFA had warned Egypt on Friday after the Algerian team bus had been pelted with stones and 3 Algerian players sustained injuries. FIFA representative Walter Gagg stated “We saw that three players had been injured — Khaled Lemmouchia on the head, Rafik Halliche above the eye and Rafik Saifi on the arm….These weren’t superficial injuries,”

The bus had broken windows and blood stains were found on the floor. The Algerian press used the incident to drum up the atmosphere of hate by plastering front page pictures of the injured players. Whilst some sections of the Egyptian press had come out with accusations that the whole incident was an Algerian fabrication.

Further scenes of aggravation took place in Marseille which is home to a large population of Algerians. After Egypt’s victory youths went on a rampage setting alight rubbish in the street as well as cars and sinking two boats.

In Cairo itself clashes saw 32 people, 20 of these being Algerian, injured and three were still in hospital the next day. The hostility that was evident on Friday with the Algerian bus incident had not simmered down.

M’sila in southern Algeria saw homes of Egypt workers attacked, whilst the Egyptian embassy in Algiers was cordoned off.

In what the media was building up as the new ‘match of hate’ Egypt went into the match against the Desert Foxes in Cairo needing to win by two clear goals to keep World Cup qualification alive.

Amr Zaki gave the Pharaohs the perfect start pouncing on the ball from a few yards out to fire them into a 1-0 lead after 2 minutes.

Algeria were 3 points clear with a better goal difference. Egypt needed another goal to force a playoff. A 2-0 victory for Egypt would leave the teams level on points and level of goals scored and conceded.

Meteb replaced Zaki in the second half and Egypt set up camp in Algeria’s half. The full time mark of 90 minutes came and went and the score was still 1-0. In the fifth minute of injury time Meteb rose high in the Algerian box and a 2-0 victory was secured.

Fireworks erupted in the sky. The Algerian fans in the stands stood shell shocked. The whole of Egypt celebrated.

As both teams finished the group level on points, head to heads, and goal difference a playoff in Sudan’s Al-Merreikh Stadium in Omdurman will take place.

After the first leg in Bahrain finished 0-0 the tie was very much in the balance for both sides, but a solitary goal by New Zealand forward Paul Fallon just before half time sent New Zealand to only their second World Cup Finals appearance. After losing to Trinidad and Tobago in a playoff match four years ago Bahrain again saw their ambitions of a first ever World Cup Finals appearance disappear.

Bahrain went into the playoff tie as warm favourites. Although the first leg finished goaless the performance from Bahrain showed that they were the much more accomplished side and the tie was only theirs to loose.

Bahrain as expected started much the more attacking side. They began with the bulk of the possession and played a more expansive game to New Zealand’s. Although the Kiwis were playing an attacking 3-4-3 formation they seemed content with bypassing the midfield and launching high balls up to the target men of Chris Killen and Paul Fallon. As expected they were prepared to simply wait for set pieces to be awarded so that the delivery man of Leo Bertos could deliver crosses into the big men.

Bahrain sought to nullify the Kiwi’s more physical presence by playing for every foul they could get, with Sayed Mohamed going down with the slightest of touches from the stronger Killen or Fallon. New Zealand were frustrated as they were unable to use their physical presence to maximum effect.

Although Bahrain were keeping the ball well, recycling much better than New Zealand it was the Kiwi’s who first went close on 20 minutes. A typical free kick from Bertos into the box was not cleared and dealt with by Bahrain. The ball came over Killen’s head, he spun round and hit the ball on the volley only to see it hit the bar and go behind.

It took Bahrain another 10 minutes after this to carve out their best chance. The ball was headed out of the New Zealand box and found Bahrain’s only recognised striker Jaycee Okwunwa. He volleyed the ball and brought out a great save from Mark Paston who was able to smother the follow up strike.

Bahrain were in control of the match but it was New Zealand who were creating the more clear cut chances. On 40 minutes New Zealand’s most creative force Bertos crossed to find the big man Fallon free in the box. Sayed Jaffer in the Bahrain goal was moving to his right, but amazingly was able to correct his movement and save with an outstretched arm to his left.

This ariel dominance and persistent tactic should have signaled warning signs for Bahrain. With two minutes to go before half time New Zealand won a corner on the right. Bertos swung the ball in to find Fallon unchallenged in the 6 yard box who easily nodded home. The crowd in the Westpac Stadium went wild.

The second half started much like the first with Bahrain pressing. In the 50th minute the breakthrough seemed to have occurred for Bahrain. Tony Lochhead got on the wrong side of Abdulla Ismaeel Omar and his challenge brought the player down in the penalty box. Sayed Mohamed stepped up to take the penalty but it was well saved by Mark Paston. The shot was so weak he was able to save it low to his right and hang on to the ball.

Bahrain only needed to score the once as they would then go through on away goals. But surprisingly all the good chances were falling for New Zealand when they sporadically attacked. On more than one occasion New Zealand carved out gilt edged chances on the breakaway. In the 83rd minute Shane Smeltz who had underperformed all evening dragged his shot wide of the right hand post when it looked easier to score.

On 88 minutes Bahrain won a free kick on the edge of the New Zealand box. A fierce shot hit the wall and looped high into the night sky. It was falling just short of of the goal line, a crowd of players jumped for the ball, it came out to Abdulla Fatadi who knocked the ball into the net. However, before the ball had reached him the referee had blown for a foul on the New Zealand keeper. Replays had shown that Mark Paston had not even attempted to challenge for the ball, yet the foul was called anyway.

Bahrain were aghast that the goal had been ruled out. It was not until deep into injury time that Bahrain troubled the goal again, but a tame flicked on header from a cross went straight to Mark Paston.

As the final whistle blew the New Zealand subs and coaching team invaded the pitch. New Zealand were on the way to their second World Cup Finals. Bahrain had failed to reach their first on a second successive occasion.

Bahrain for all their possession had lacked the drive and determination that saw them score 2 goals against Saudi Arabia and set this playoff tie up. They seemed impotent in attack, and it was New Zealand who had created the better chances. Bahrain will look to the fact that injuries had provided them with only one fit striker for the match. But the reality was with the possession they enjoyed they should have carved out a lot more goal opportunities than they did.

The inquest into Bahrain’s failure to again reach the World Cup at the final hurdle to a weaker team will begin in ernest, while New Zealand book their plane tickets to South Africa.

After a goalless draw on Saturday Bahrain stunned the home crowd by scoring a second equaliser deep into stoppage time and to defeat favourites Saudi Arabia on away goals.

Under the lights of the King Fahd International Stadium Saudi Arabia took the lead in the 13th minute through Nassir Al Shamrani. The home team had started well and were well supported by the passionate 70,000 strong home fans. However, just before half time they were caught out at the back and Bahrain’s Nigerian born striker Jaycee Okwunwanne. That goal was seeing Bahrain through on away goals.

Saudi Arabia were bidding for their 5th consecutive World Cup Finals and in injury time the stadium erupted in joy when defender Hamad Al Montashari netted what everyone thought was the winner. The goal could not have come from a more unlikely source and you could see the fans and players thought that this had been divine intervention.

Perhaps the Saudi players had thought the game was over and were thinking of South Africa and it was a case of playing out injury time. However, their World Cup 2010 hopes were smashed to pieces when Ismaeel Latif scored from a corner and what turned out to be the last real play of the match.

In breaking the World Cup run of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain have now set themselves up for their own history making in giving them 180 minutes in order to reach their first World Cup. They will now face New Zealand in October and November in a two legged play off. Bahrain will hope not to suffer the same fate as four years ago when they fell to playoff defeat to Trinidad and Tobago.

The Saudi’s must now reflect on where this qualifying campaign went wrong, and this could be the final time a number of it’s aging stars such as Al Qahtani had the chance of playing on the biggest stage of all.

While Saudi’s sit back and pick over the remains of their campaign Bahrain go marching on and must now be considered favourites to reach World Cup 2010. As predicted on this blog back in June Bahrain posed a greater threat to Saudi Arabia than most people fancied. It is now up to them to take on this new responsibility of favourites and really show the world how far they have come.

Check out the crazy final minutes of injury time below which will go down as one of the best climaxes to a World Cup qualifying game ever.

Turkey went into the game knowing that a win was all but a must in order to claw back 3 valuable points on Bosnia and to keep the race for second place in the group alive.

Turkey must have thought the mission was well on course when only in the 5th minute midfield dynamo Emre Belozoglu opened the scoring. Turkey were on top and Bosnia were pressed back for large parts of the second half. However, in the 26th minute Sejad Salihovic scored a beautifully placed 25 yard free kick that went into Volkan’s top left hand corner.

The pressure of the occasion was obvious to see as Turkey coach Fatih Terim was sent to the stands over his protests of the free kick award.

The second half saw Turkey take the initiative and press hard for a winner with Bosnia content to hit on the counter attack. However, it was not to be for Turkey and the match ended in a draw.

This result helps Bosnia consolidate second place and a win in their next match match away against Estonia would seal 2nd place and consign the Turks to qualification failure.

Turkey went into the match in third place in Europe Group 5, 4 points off second place Bosnia-Herzegovina and a distant 10 points behind leaders Spain. The group has long been about the race for second place and Turkey went into the match at the Kadir Has Stadium knowing only a victory would do.

The home crowd was given a shock when on 7 minutes Estonia took the lead through Vladimir Voskoboinikov. Tuncay levelled the scores 20 minutes later, with Sercan Yildirim adding a second 8 minutes from half time.

Turkey were the dictating the play but were unable to put Estonia away and on 52 minutes Konstantin Vassiljev equalised. It appeared Turkey were losing their grip on any chance of second place, and this was transmitted to the crowd. It took a goal from Arda Turan ten minutes later and another goal from Tuncay in the 72nd minute to relieve the pressure in the stadium  and put a slight gloss on the Turkish performance.

The result keeps Turkey 4 points behind Bosnia with 3 games to play after the Bosnians kept up their impressive form beating Armenia 2-0 away from home.

The crunch game now occurs on Wednesday evening in Zenica when Turkey travel to Bosnia. A win for Bosnia would surely cement secnd place and consign the Turkish players to a quiet 2010 summer. A win for Turkey would put them 1 pint behind Bosnia with Bosnia having the tougher run in by hosting Spain in their last match.

Turkey celebrate

The home crowd were in boisterous mood and the team were coming off a wondrous 3-1 home defeat of rivals Egypt in the last round of matches. The atmosphere was one of expectation and the Desert Foxes seem to rise to occasion from the off dominating the early possession and carving out a few chances from outside the area.

The Zambians being the weaker tam and away from home quite predictably sat back and soaked up the pressure, while looking for route one attacking over the top when given the opportunity. Zambia were themselves going into the match buoyed up by the promise of going joint top along side Algeria and Egypt should they win.

Zambia stood firm against the early dominance of Algeria and went into half time level and could have felt that a number of chances they themselves had created could have resulted in more. The second half began much like the first and the crowd became restless. The Desert Foxes also had the officials to thank when a Zambia goal was ruled out due to an offside that only the officials saw and the tv replays did not.

However, up volleyed Saifi in the 59th minute. This changed the came, the weight of expectation lifted off the shoulders of the Algerian players. The carnival atmosphere returned to the stands and Algeria had the time and space to start expressing themselves.

The rest of the match saw Algeria controlling the play, albeit with a few scares along the way, Henry Banda missing a good opportunity in the 84th minute being a highlight.

Although Algeria could not add to their lead they will be satisfied with the 3 points, and at this point in the campaign the fans will know points will be taken over style. However, that is not to say Algeria played badly and for large parts of the game they demonstrated their new found confidence on the ball and looked like World Cup qualifiers.

The victory now puts them 3 points ahead of Egypt and that clash on the final match day in Egypt looks like it could be the decider. Algeria must stay favourites however as they are the form team and have a +3 better goal difference to their rivals.

The Saudi goal keeper, Waleed Adbullah,  produced a man of the match performance to keep Bahrain out and give the Saudi’s hope going back to Riyadh in mid week. A deflected shot eventually beat the keeper, but the woodwork acted as the last line of defence. The lack of goals did not translate into a dreary affair, and Bahrain took the game to the Saudi’s and were much the better side. The Saudi’s only threat came from Al Qahtani, but a failed penalty appeal was the limited of his threat.

Bahrain must come away from this match smarting at not pressing home their advantage, and one must fear that this will come back and haunt them in Riyadh on Wednesday. The Saudi’s will be relieved to have passed this test, if only just. They must now start as favourites for the next leg and to face New Zealand in the final play off to reach World Cup 2010. However, going against popular opinion Bahrain have shown they can unsettle the Saudi’s but surely repeating the same feats away from home is too much?

Ghana, with 4 wins from 4 matches sit on 12 points, 7 points ahead of Mali with two matches to play. The group is all but over, especially with Sudan cut adrift by 3 points at the bottom.

The home side took their home advantage from the start in highly charged atmosphere at the Abuja National Stadium. Nigerian hopes were raised on 23 minutes when Osaze Odemwingie ghosted past two players to fire the ball into the roof of the Tunisian net from just inside the box. However, not two minutes later the visitors drew level with Sliti Nabil firing a thunder bolt from outside the area into the Nigerian net.

Taider scores Tunisia's first

The second half was an even affair and was very open from the start. Both teams found joy on the counter attack and both matched each other for chances, but it was Nigeria who got the breakthrough on 80 minutes. Good work from Mikel on the edge of the box released Nsofor on the byline who crossed for Eneramo to hit home.

Nigeria looked to be leap frogging Tunisia to the top of the table, enter Oussama Darragi who pulled Nigeria’s legs from under them. Having found space in the box he calmly waited for the keeper to make his move before guiding the ball over the keeper and into the roof of the net. As Darragi and his team mates celebrated missiles fro the home crowd rained down on them and the officials had to usher them away from the corner flag area.

Tunisia showed how far they have come in recent months and put up a great performance in a hostile environment. This was a performance by deserved group leaders and having secured a draw away from home to their biggest rivals they have World Cup qualification firmly in their own hands. They are now 2 points ahead of Nigeria, with Kenya at home on the 10th October and Mozambique away on the 14th November.