For now, cause to celebrate

Egypt's demolition of Algeria brought rare smiles and an even rarer victory as the race for the World Cup reached the half-way point. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on a moment to savour
A late victory against Algeria and a victorious jubilations
photos: Salah Ibrahim
With only one goal from three previous Group C matches, the Egyptians must have feared the worst against the defensively formidable Algerian Desert Warriors in Cairo. But an 85,000 crowd saw Egypt score within six minutes, lead 3-2 at half-time and snatch two late goals for a victory not even the most zealous home supporter could have imagined possible.
It was Egypt's first win in four tries in Group C, dubbed the group of death. The 5-2 result enabled Egypt to jump from fourth place to second at the halfway stage of a 2002 World Cup qualifying competition designed to produce five African finalists and revived its hopes of securing a place in the tournament.
Defender Hani Ramzi, wearing the captain's armband, filled in for injured Hossam Hassan. Hassan's return to the Egyptian side is still unclear as the world's most capped player is still mulling over retirement.
Mohamed Barakat triggered the seven-goal feast at Cairo Stadium with an early strike that wrong-footed the Algerian goalkeeper. The lead stood just five minutes before the Algerians equalised when Olympique Marseille's Djamal Belmadi showcased an array of skills inside the area before Ali Massabieh struck the ball at Egyptian keeper Nader El-Sayed who could not control the rebound. Abdul-Hafidh Tesfaout pounced on the loose ball to level the game.
Another Barakat effort gave Egypt the lead again in the 16th minute. The midfielder won the ball on the right side with a clean tackle before curling a cross to the head of Abdel-Sattar Sabry who scored while on his knees. Belmadi replied after 36 minutes with a backward kick in a forest of players, only for defender Abdel-Zaher El-Saqqa to fire home a free kick to give the Pharaohs a one-goal advantage at the half.
Tarek Al-Said settled the North African showdown with a couple of late goals, the second coming in injury time, as the Algerian defence completely broke down.
Egyptian coach Mahmoud El-Gohari praised his players but acknowledged that defensive slip-ups almost cost them the game. "I thank all of them for this spectacular performance," El-Gohari said. "We did an exceptional job. I was concerned before the match because I respect the Algerian team but I was hoping for a happy ending and that's what happened."
"The victory is a culmination of our efforts this past week. We committed a few defensive mistakes in the first half but everything turned out well in the end."
It was the 21st meeting between the two countries whose battles have often been epics. Egypt qualified for the 1984 Olympics and the 1990 World Cup at Algeria's expense. But the overall record has the Algerians on top, having beaten Egypt eight times, losing five and tying eight.
Egypt, Morocco and Senegal are all tied with six points in Group C, setting the stage for a torrid second stage. The loss dropped Algeria to fourth place with four points while Namibia is last with two.
Senegal's Striker El Hadji Diouf made good use of his suspension at French club Lens to travel home and score a hat-trick in his country's 4-0 win over Namibia, which arrived only on the eve of the match because of airline schedule problems.
While the goals flowed in Cairo, traditional West African rivals Ghana and Nigeria could not manage even one between them before a 40,000 crowd jammed into the Accra National Stadium. A capacity crowd watched Ghana's makeshift side maintain its 18-year unbeaten record against their star-studded rivals while Nigeria dropped to third in its five-team group halfway through the qualifying campaign.
The result left the Group B standings with a strange appearance as outsiders Liberia and no-hopers Sudan lead with nine points each.
Nigeria remain in contention with seven points, Ghana appears out of the running with four and Sierra Leone will play for pride from now on following four consecutive losses.
There has never been any love lost between the Ghanaian Black Stars and the Nigerian Super Eagles and it showed with two players from Ghana and five from Nigeria cautioned.
Fielding an all-local team after a series of poor displays by Europe-based professionals like Samuel Kuffour from German champions Bayern Munich, Ghana adopted a fast, adventurous approach and gained a moral victory over Nigeria even if it dropped a further two points and is now all but dead and buried. It managed the draw with a side made up only of locally-based players after Ghana's coach Jones Attaquayefio dropped all the country's foreign stars following successive defeats in their two previous qualifiers.
This contrasted with the almost listless Nigerians, whose line-up included such big names as twice African Footballer of the Year Nwankwo Kanu from Arsenal and Augustine 'Jay Jay' Okocha from Paris Saint Germain.
Liberia did not play this weekend but Sudan sprang a surprise with a rare away victory, beating Sierra Leone 2-0 in Freetown.
The shock defeat came courtesy of two quick goals just before half-time and Sierra Leone President Ahmed Tejjan Kabbah was forced to leave the ground early as the anger of the home crowd exploded into an orgy of bottle and missile throwing.
It was the fourth successive defeat for Sierra Leone, the only one of the 25 African teams in the qualifiers yet to win a single point.
Police action was also needed in Kinshasa to quell a crowd seeking to attack referee Lucien Bouchardeau of Niger after the Democratic Republic of Congo lost 2-1 to the Ivory Coast in Group D.
Angola needed maximum points in Togo to keep the pressure on Group A pacesetters Cameroon, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw after falling behind during the second half.
Sherif Coubadja gave the Togolese Hawks a 60th-minute lead which Angolan Fabrice 'Akwa' Maieco cancelled soon after by claiming his fourth goal of the qualifying rounds.
Togo coach Tchalile Bana needed police protection at the final whistle after angering thousands of fans by replacing popular striker Senaya Yao with 10 minutes left.
The result pushed Togo back into second place, five points behind Cameroon, who would seem to have this section sewn up.
Zimbabwe's 2-0 win at home against Malawi put it back in contention in Group E, where the top-of-the-table clash between South Africa and Guinea was cancelled because of the FIFA suspension of Guinea.
Goals by Benjamin Mwaruwari on the stroke of half-time and Edwin Kasinauyo seven minutes before full-time brought the Zimbabwe Warriors their second success within two weeks after winning in Burkina Faso.
Success also kept alive their slender hopes of reaching the 2002 finals as they moved within three points of leaders and top seeds South Africa, who host their neighbours in May.
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