Down to the wire

Weekend results kept Egypt's World Cup hopes alive or, asks Nashwa Abdel-Tawab, is the inevitable just being delayed?
The ball is about to cross the Namibian goalline, one of Egypt's eight tallies against the bottom of the table nation
photo: Hussein Fathi
Before its World Cup qualifier with Namibia on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's slim chances of going to Japan and South Korea depended on four hopes: that it would score a basketful of goals against Namibia; that Senegal would beat Morocco by a one-goal margin; that Egypt would then beat Algeria in Algiers in its final match; and that Namibia can withstand what is certain to be a Senegalese onslaught on the same day.
The first two of those hopes became reality when Egypt hammered Namibia 8-2 and Senegal edged Morocco 1-0. The results gave Egypt and Senegal 12 points each in Group C. Group leader Morocco has 15 but its campaign has ended and the group's outcome is likely to be determined on goal difference which so far is in Egypt's favour; it is two ahead of Senegal. But Senegal can be expected to pummel the Namibian goal this coming Saturday, leaving Egypt no choice that day but to defeat Algeria in Algeria and do so by a two-goal margin at least. Not impossible -- but nearly so. Egypt and Algeria have met 21 times with Egypt winning only five of the encounters, losing eight and drawing eight. The last time the two teams met was in a 1995 African qualifying match won by Algeria 1-0 in Algiers. And Egypt has never beaten Algeria on its home ground.
Despite Egypt's not so rosy prospects, the first half of its scenario of hopes was successfully completed. In Alexandria, Egypt got off to the best of starts against Namibia, pounding in five goals in the first half. Tarek El-Said scored in the 4th minute, followed by Mohamed Barakat in the 37th, then a hat-trick by Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni, called in to beef up the attack, and playing in his first international game after a two-year absence. A shell-shocked Namibia briefly bounced back in the second half when Patrick Mkaapwane scored in the 52nd minute and Jesajas Naruseb made it 5-2 in the 79th, capitalising on a goalkeeping miscue. But Egypt recovered the initiative as Barakat netted his second goal in the 72nd minute to make it 6-2. Mohamed Salah Abu Greisha threaded the ball home in the 81st and the much-maligned Abdel-Sattar Sabri banged the ball into the left post for Egypt's eighth and final goal three minutes before time.
Senegal's victory over Morocco the next day gave the Senegalese and Egyptians vital breathing space. Senegal striker Al-Hadji Ousseynou Diouf, from French club Lens, kept up his record of scoring key goals for his country, netting after 17 minutes in Dakar to put pay to Morocco's hopes of gaining the point it needed to win the group and become the third African side through to next year's finals. Morocco will have to await the outcome of the last two matches in the group to know its fate, but it can only qualify if both Egypt and Senegal fail to win on Saturday, a highly unlikely proposition.
Cameroon and South Africa, the two sides who qualified earlier this month, completed their qualifying campaign on Saturday by keeping up their unbeaten records.
African champions Cameroon drew 2-2 away in Zambia to end on 19 points in Group A, while South Africa were 2-0 winners at home in Durban against Malawi to finish on 16 points in Group E.
George Weah returned to Liberia's line-up after a short international "retirement" to score the goal that put his country back in the lead in Group B. Liberia beat Sierra Leone 1-0 away in Freetown with Weah scoring 17 minutes from time.
Weah had been persuaded to return to the side by Liberian President Charles Taylor after retiring in the wake of the recriminations that followed Liberia's home defeat by Ghana in Monrovia on 1 July. Weah's house had been attacked by an angry mob and the players' bus stoned after the surprise defeat.
Liberia now leads Nigeria by two points but has completed its programme. Nigeria must win its final match against Ghana on 28 July in Lagos to go through to a third successive World Cup finals appearance.
Tunisia became the third African nation to qualify for the World Cup finals, beating the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire) 3-0 on Sunday in a Group D qualifying match. Tunisia clinched the title with 20 points from its eight matches. Tunisia joins South Africa and Cameroon in the World Cup finals, along with hosts South Korea and Japan and defending champion France. Two more African group winners will also qualify.
In Pointe Noire, Congo, Sylva Bakouma scored from the penalty spot in the 88th minute as the Republic of Congo drew 1-1 with the Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast's Mamadou Coulibaly struck first in the 87th minute, giving the visitors the goal it needed to stay alive in the qualifying competition. But Bakouma took advantage of the spot kick to equalise and eliminate the Ivorians. Ivory Coast, with 15 points and one more game to play, will finish second in Group D.
In Accra, Ghana, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffuor scored the sole goal of the match in the 44th minute as Ghana beat Sudan 1-0 and ended the visitors' hopes of qualifying. Liberia leads Group B with 15 points from its eight matches while Nigeria is second with 13 points from seven matches. Nigeria must beat Ghana next week to qualify.
Also in Group B, it was Zimbabwe 1, Burkina Faso 0 and Togo 2, Libya 0.
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