Pharoahs vs Desert Foxes (tomorrow night)

[dazlebluefrog]

@ ant, Marseille isn't the place to be for the next few days i expect trouble tomorrow night, then Friday night there is another nice "friendly "match in marseille /PSG which was postponed due to swine flu in the Paris camp ,lots of trouble that day as well ,stupid twats cancelled it during the afternoon when most of the PSG fans were already in Marseille!!

[Blueboylewis]

Bloody hell, And all this time i thought you was Ginger Ant for some reason. Apologies mate haha.

[ant london]

Bloody hell, And all this time i thought you was Ginger Ant for some reason. Apologies mate haha.

haha

nah mate

[Slim]

You are never dating the one on the right.

[ant london]

Didn't mean to post that, it was meant to be PM'd to pubeless. Balls!

haha

yep and let me tell you she is very high maintenance.....although she is Lucky (by name at least)

anyway, back to topic....this is how the last match ended at the weekend

[youtube]2SZJ6LzE_pM&feature=player_embedded#[/youtube]

Apparently tonight is a sell-out in Khartoum and they have 15,000 coppers on duty in and around the stadium. That being said, I think it is safe to admit that it will go right off whoever wins. God knows why any country would volunteer to host this kind of match

[ant london]

Another update....

I'd just heard about this from the horse's mouth as Orascom is one of my big clients over here....they are taking measures to pull about 5000 Egyptian staff out of Algeria

Apparently it has gone postal over there.

Now another bit of genius bound to cool the flames is the fact that several big companies, an airline and the air force here have been (today) providing FREE flights from Cairo to Khartoum for any Egyptians mad enough to want to go.

And, to the question on your lips....no you don't need to have a match ticket to travel.

The mind boggles as to what would happen if this lot could get lagered up as well??????

While almost anywhere else in the world the game would have been called off, here Fifa looked the other way and it went ahead with two of Algeria's team playing with head bandages – a situation the coach wasted little time in blaming for the 2-0 defeat.

The backlash in Algiers was swift. Thousands of Algeria fans burned down Egyptian telecom giant Orascom's compound and stole or destroyed equipment worth $5m. EgyptAir's country headquarters were ransacked twice and looters chanted slogans at the firemen who turned up to put out the blaze. Algeria's ambassador was later summoned to the foreign ministry in Cairo for stern words. If this response seems overblown, anyone present at the 1989 match could have told authorities what to expect. Then, as now, the two teams had to play two matches to decide who would go to Italia '90. The first ended goalless, moving to a decider in Cairo where Egypt needed to win. This they did thanks to a first-half header from Hossam Hassan but the football wasn't really the point.

Ayman Younis, an Egyptian midfielder who would have played that day but for injury and is now a television commentator, remembers: "It was an incredible atmosphere. The stadium was full five hours before the game. The Algeria team was full of stars and, on the pitch, it was very crazy; 11 fights between every player. Everybody forgot what the coaches had to say and just fought instead. It was a battle, not a football match. It was like our war against Israel in 1973."

Then the fighting got worse. Brawling in the tunnel was followed by a pitched battle at the press conference that had to be broken up by heavy police intervention. By the time the two sides were parted, the Egyptian team doctor had lost an eye.

One of Africa's most admired players, Algeria's Lakhdar Belloumi – who scored the winning goal against West Germany at the 1982 World Cup – was blamed. He was convicted in absentia by an Egyptian court and a warrant issued for his arrest by Interpol. He has remained a virtual prisoner at his home until a personal appeal by Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika saw the warrant lifted this year.

The leading characters from that fateful match are once again to the fore. Many of the players are now coaching or commentating on tonight's game. Algeria are managed by Rabah Saadane, who led them in the 1989 decider. When asked about the pressure at a press conference in June he broke down in tears.

As for the peacemakers in Khartoum, hopes of a neutral venue have vanished in the last 48 hours. Egypt is perceived as the neighbourhood's sporting bully and around 15,000 riot police have been deployed. Last night, Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra summed up the mood, saying they were "ready for war".

Scotland seems to be everyone's first port of call when it comes to underlining the importance of a match and while Algeria's supporters didn't quote Bill Shankly they took inspiration from the movie Braveheart in a popular YouTube clip, getting William Wallace to call on all Algerians to turn out for the Sudan decider.

Thousands of fans like Adel, decked out in pointed hat, shirt and trousers in Algeria's colours, answered the call: "I am married with two children," he told the AFP in Khartoum. "I left my children, my wife, my home. I left everything and I came here."

[john@staustell]

Sounds nearly as bad as the old visit to Cold Blow Lane!

[Wonderwall]

this is mental. On a scale of 1-10 this is a 20, I seriously dont know how Fifa can stay silent and look the other way. If that was england we would be banned for 100 years.

[Twobob]

Goinna be pretty Tasty Ant - Got your Tin Hat ready?

Incidentally - was lsitening to talk shite on the way in and an 'Ant living/working in Cairo' emailed them about stupid names and the Egyptian match tonight, quoted Chuckles dad's name and said he'd once been boning a girl with a surname of 'Moist' - that wasnt our very own 'Ant' was it? :-)

[ant london]

Goinna be pretty Tasty Ant - Got your Tin Hat ready?

Incidentally - was lsitening to talk shite on the way in and an 'Ant living/working in Cairo' emailed them about stupid names and the Egyptian match tonight, quoted Chuckles dad's name and said he'd once been boning a girl with a surname of 'Moist' - that wasnt our very own 'Ant' was it? :-)

well....it's not ideal actually as I've gotta go to the airport to pick my friend up....at midnight

I am hoping it is not full of loons banging flares off....waiting for the team to return to be feted or lynched

haha....that will be Fiona Moist to whom you refer ;-)

[john@staustell]

this is mental. On a scale of 1-10 this is a 20, I seriously dont know how Fifa can stay silent and look the other way. If that was england we would be banned for 100 years.

Absolutely. But different rules apply to FIFA in Africa. That's why the WC in in the murder capital of the world and most of the stadia seem unlikely to be ready, but that's fine.

Anyone with an ounce of sense would've played this game in a far distant country, with no flight access from Algeria or Egypt and riot police with big scary hats. Maybe South Korea or Japan?

[Slim]

this is mental. On a scale of 1-10 this is a 20, I seriously dont know how Fifa can stay silent and look the other way. If that was england we would be banned for 100 years.

Absolutely. But different rules apply to FIFA in Africa. That's why the WC in in the murder capital of the world and most of the stadia seem unlikely to be ready, but that's fine.

Anyone with an ounce of sense would've played this game in a far distant country, with no flight access from Algeria or Egypt and riot police with big scary hats. Maybe South Korea or Japan?

I thought the murder capital of the world was Ciudad Juarez.

[Twobob]

Goinna be pretty Tasty Ant - Got your Tin Hat ready?

Incidentally - was lsitening to talk shite on the way in and an 'Ant living/working in Cairo' emailed them about stupid names and the Egyptian match tonight, quoted Chuckles dad's name and said he'd once been boning a girl with a surname of 'Moist' - that wasnt our very own 'Ant' was it? :-)

well....it's not ideal actually as I've gotta go to the airport to pick my friend up....at midnight

I am hoping it is not full of loons banging flares off....waiting for the team to return to be feted or lynched

haha....that will be Fiona Moist to whom you refer ;-)

As far as Travel Planning goes - that sucks eggs!

Think one of thier tanks is required - I do hope you're mate doesnt turn up sporting Algerian colours - I'd leave him to the pack of dogs if he did, every man for himself and all that ;-)

When that came on I was pissing myself laughing and the tosser that had just cut me up must have thought I was going insane and raced off!

LOL

[carl_feedthegoat]

this is mental. On a scale of 1-10 this is a 20, I seriously dont know how Fifa can stay silent and look the other way. If that was england we would be banned for 100 years.

Absolutely. But different rules apply to FIFA in Africa. That's why the WC in in the murder capital of the world and most of the stadia seem unlikely to be ready, but that's fine.

Anyone with an ounce of sense would've played this game in a far distant country, with no flight access from Algeria or Egypt and riot police with big scary hats. Maybe South Korea or Japan?

I thought the murder capital of the world was Ciudad Juarez.

JOHBURG PER CAPITA.

[ant london]

As far as Travel Planning goes - that sucks eggs!

Think one of thier tanks is required - I do hope you're mate doesnt turn up sporting Algerian colours - I'd leave him to the pack of dogs if he did, every man for himself and all that ;-)

When that came on I was pissing myself laughing and the tosser that had just cut me up must have thought I was going insane and raced off!

LOL

Yeah I know.....I thought the play off would be at least a week from the original match TBH...never even thought to check!! She'll kill me if it's naaaaawty!

I actually joked that I was going to support Algeria to a few people and was left in no uncertain terms as to how hazardous it might be. I'll stay neutral I think!

I didn't actually hear it.....funny tho!!

[sky_blue_stew]

Should be a cracker, I'm expecting fireworks. Top OP Ant, I knew nothing about this rivalry before, but did some poking around online and found this football article on World Cup qualifiers, and it reckons that Sudan and Egypt are proper pals, with 120,000 Egyptians living in Sudan, and no visa requirements for Egyptian supporters, unlike the Algerians. So it's basically like a home game for Egypt.

Any ideas why they've struggled to qualify for World Cups so much when they always do well in the African Nations? Seems odd that a team can gather momentum at tournaments but struggle in the one-off fixtures you need to win to qualify.

[ant london]

Any ideas why they've struggled to qualify for World Cups so much when they always do well in the African Nations? Seems odd that a team can gather momentum at tournaments but struggle in the one-off fixtures you need to win to qualify.

It's hard to pinpoint to be honest but this country is football mad and the analysis everyone (pretty much to a man) will give you is that they struggle psychologically and in terms of mentality (and I have to say that much of what they say brings to mind one of the main deficiencies of England teams I have seen over the years).

They are a really nice people here but they have a peculiar character. They do not consider themselves to be Arabs, nor Africans insisting instead that they are descended from the Pharoahs.

So, in much of a similar way to how England consider themselves to be superior to "inferior nations" (think of the teams against whom England have slipped up during qualifying campaigns over the years rather than putting on a dominant performance and swatting them aside) Egypt often have upsets against the minnows which, in turn, undermines their efforts in performing really well against the big sides.

Take the Confederations Cup as an example.

They were brilliant against Brazil, losing 4-3 to a very dodgy last minute penalty, then beat Italy 1-0......then lost 3-0 to the USA

That, I am told, sums up Egypt's national team perfectly.

The qualifying campaign they got beat in Malawi, held to a draw in Cairo by (those giants of African football) Rwanda and then lost 3-1 in Algiers. Algeria have been more consistent (marginally) and that is why it has come down to the wire.

IMO Egypt are a much better side. They have a couple of players in Mohamed Zidane and Mohamed Aboutrika (who is class....he came second in last year's African Player of the Year behind Adebayor but in front of Essien) who would get into most international sides as well as a supporting cast of some players many would know (albeit if the likes of Amr Zaki have, themselves, suspect temperaments).

They should win....but I have no idea how tonight will pan out

[dazlebluefrog]

i thought they was still a civil war in the Sudan?
kick off is at 18h30 French time by the way (17h30 in england)so i might watch it on one of the Arab tv stations
just finished work and already the algerians are out in force wearing their colours, noticed as well when i came passed the train station in Valence that they have put a big screen to cover the front of it cause its all made of glass i think they are expecting a nasty night again