Egypt lost major ground -- as well as its coach -- in qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup after going down to Libya. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab sees where the Pharaohs go from here Egypt lost more than three points after being defeated by Libya in the race for the 2006 World Cup. It also lost its coach, the Italian Marco Tardelli, who was dismissed on Monday after just five games at the helm. Tardelli, the famed midfielder of the 1982 Italian side that won the World Cup, was relieved of his post after a meeting with Egypt's football federation headed by Essam Abdel- Moneim. In the five games he coached, all World Cup qualifiers, Tardelli posted two wins, a draw and two losses for a mere seven points in a group that is currently being led by Ivory Coast which has 12 points. The federation will give $90,000 to Tardelli who leaves with his contract yet to expire. The federation will pay $25,000; the rest will come from businessmen. Tardelli was making $40,000 a month. Tardelli's assistant Ismail Youssef, will be interim coach. The Ministry of Youth will call on Hani Abu Reida, general supervisor of national teams, to look for a permanent replacement. Observers say those in the running are Mahmoud El-Gohari who has coached Egypt four times and who is currently managing the Jordanian national squad. Former Zamalek star Farouk Gaafar, currently in control of Misri, is also being touted as Tardelli's replacement. Tardelli's axing perhaps came as no surprise given Egypt's loss to Libya on Friday, its hopes for a third World Cup appearance now fading fast. Goals from Nader Karra and Ahmed Osman gave Libya the precious, and its most important, third successive victory over Egypt in the last 10 encounters. The win gave Libya 10 points, just two behind Group Three leaders Ivory Coast at the half-way point of the qualifiers. The loss left Egypt with just seven points and a huge five-point difference to make up, with just five games remaining, if it wants to go to Germany in 2006. Karra scored the game's opening goal in the 30th minute of the encounter in Tripoli. Controlling a midfield pass from captain Tarek Al-Taib with his chest, Karra beat an offside trap set up by the Egyptians before lobbing the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Nader El-Sayed. After struggling to stamp its presence in the first half, Egypt pulled one back in the 52nd minute when Amr Zaki took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to hit a close-range shot that gave the Libyan goalkeeper no chance. Just when it appeared that Libya would be forced to settle for a draw, Ahmed Osman hit a low drive in the 85th minute that gave victory to the home side. Osman connected with a cross from Al-Taib, the outstanding player for Libya. The late goal sent the Libyans into jubilation as they set off fireworks in the stadium. Egypt's next game is with Libya again, this time in Cairo on 25 March. The Ivory Coast defeated Benin 1-0 in Cotonou on Sunday to resume pole position in Group Three. Aruna Dindane scored the only goal of the game after 48 minutes to silence the 45,000 fans packed into the stadium. Dindane scored his sixth goal in five matches to lead Ivory Coast to its fourth victory out of five games. Dindane scored three against Sudan and single goals against Libya and Egypt. Ivory Coast, the 1992 African Cup of Nations champions, has never qualified for the World Cup. The Elephants' win leaves them four clear of Cameroon, who have been to an African-record five World Cups but are in danger of missing 2006. The Indomitable Lions, considered by many as the flagship of African football, wasted the chance to put pressure on the Elephants when drawing 1-1 with Sudan in Khartoum, thanks to Joseph-Desire Job's injury time equaliser. The result sees Cameroon in third place in Group Three. In Group Four, Nigeria managed no better than a 1-1 draw in Gabon on Saturday and then had to watch as Angola pulled past it into first place in the group with a 1-0 victory at home against Zimbabwe. The southern Africans lead the group with 11 points from their five matches, one more than the Super Eagles. Rwanda and Algeria, who are fifth and sixth in the table, drew 1-1 in the other group match. African champions Tunisia, which is considered the favourites in Group Five, struggled against Malawi on Saturday after the home side raced into a two-goal lead and then saw the north Africans miss a second half penalty. However, a late rally saw Ziad Jaziri pull one back with eight minutes to go, before Kaies Ghodhbane found the equaliser a minute from time. Botswana, which managed a 2-1 victory against Kenya, is third in the group with six points from five matches, while Tunisia has five from four. Guinea, who drew 1-1 at home against Morocco, tops the group with eight points from four matches, while Morocco has six from its four outings. In Group One, three teams are on 10 points from their five matches after wins on Sunday. In Monrovia, Senegal took the lead against Liberia through Pape Bouba Diop, which resulted in the home crowd throwing stones at the police. After Henri Camara added a second and third for the visitors in the second half, the crowd started throwing projectiles onto the field, which forced the referee to stop the game for half an hour before allowing play to continue once the situation had calmed down. Collins Mbesuma scored a hat-trick for Zambia in its 3- 2 win against Congo, a victory that led Zambian coach Kalusha Bwalya to proclaim that his side is still in the race to make it to Germany. The third side with 19 points is Togo, which is coached by former Nigerian World Cup player Stephan Keshi. The Togolese were too strong for Mali and won 1-0 through a goal scored by Emmanuel Adebayor midway through the first half. Champions League winner Benni McCarthy scored a second half penalty to help South Africa race to the top of Group Two on Sunday with a deserved 1-0 victory in Uganda. The 2010 World Cup hosts advances to nine points and has a one point lead from Ghana and Burkina Faso, who played to a goalless draw. The other match in the group saw the Cape Verde Islands beat Burkina Faso 1-0 to move to seven points. The top team from each group qualifies for the World Cup in Germany in 2006, while the top three from each group qualify for the 2006 Nations Cup in Egypt. If Egypt is in the top three in Group Three, then the fourth-placed team will go through to the Nations Cup.
