Bizarre offside call (Egypt, 1934) Egypt were the first African team to play at the World Cup, becoming the continent's sole representative when they qualified for the 1934 edition in Italy. Their campaign was short-lived, however, when a knockout format saw them bow out from the first game following a controversial 4-2 defeat by Hungary. According to Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Kamel Mansour, who died in 2002 a month before his 88th birthday, the Pharaohs were denied a clear goal following a bizarre offside call from the referee. "When the game was 2-2, my colleague Fawzi took the ball from the centre and dribbled past all the Hungarian players to score a third goal,” he said in a 2002 interview with BBC. "But the referee cancelled the goal as an offside!" ## ‘Unfair elimination' (Algeria, 1982) Algeria sprang one of the major surprises in World Cup history after defeating West Germany 2-1 in a group-stage game in Gijon, Spain. The stunning victory put them on the brink of qualification for the knockout stage but a highly controversial match between Germany and Austria sent the North Africans packing. Final group games were played at different times back then, meaning that West Germany knew a 1-0 victory over Austria would be enough to send both sides to the next round at the expense of Algeria. This is what exactly happened in a blatant case of match-fixing, with the West Germans scoring after 10 minutesbefore both sides opted to keep possession as long as they could in a labored performance that had the crowd fuming. The crowd chanted “out, out” and “Algeria, Algeria” as West Germany and Austria advanced, prompting FIFA to decide to hold all final group matches at subsequent World Cups simultaneously. “Our performances forced FIFA to make that change, and that was even better than a victory. It meant that Algeria left an indelible mark on football history,” said Algeria great Lakhdar Belloumi. ## Roger Milla's goal (Cameroon, 1990) The oldest player ever to make a World Cup appearance, Cameroon great Roger Milla scored a remarkable goal at the 1990 edition in Italy after making the most of a blunder from Colombia's eccentric goalkeeper Rene Higuita. In the extra time of a second-round game between Cameroon and Colombia, Higuita took a trademark risk by trying to drag-back the ball past Milla 35 yards out but he lost possession and the 38-year-old striker, who came out of retirement to help the Indomitable Lions at the World Cup, made no mistake with a simple shot into an empty net. Milla celebrated with his trademark corner-flag dance as Cameroon reached the quarter-finals. “I was looking for a chance to pounce. I'd positioned myself between Rene Higuita and his last defender waiting for a poor pass, which is exactly what happened,” Milla said of the goal in an interview with FIFA.com. “I hadn't planned it but I'd played with Carlos Valderrama at Montpellier and we'd spoken about Rene's game and I'd seen a few cassettes of Colombia. I knew he liked to play with the ball outside his area and I was ready for him.” ## Luis Suarez handball (Ghana, 2010) Ghana were on the verge of becoming the first African side to reach the semis of a World Cup but they were denied by a controversial handball from Uruguay striker Luis Suarez in the quarter final. Suarez used his hand to block a goal-bound header from Dominic Adiyiah in the last minute when the score was 1-1. Asamoah Gyan's ensuing penalty struck the bar and Uruguay went on to win on penalties but the Suarez handball dominated headlines for the wrong reasons afterwards. “The 'Hand of God' now belongs to me. Mine is the real 'Hand Of God'. I made the best save of the tournament. Sometimes in training I play as a goalkeeper so it was worth it,” Suarez said at the time. "There was no alternative but for me to do that and when they missed the penalty.” ## (For more sports news and updates,followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/103469.aspx
