Is the Fix in or is the Fix in?
Many crazy things happened over the weekend. Nigeria came from behind to beat Kenya, while Tunisia fell to Mozambique, thus sending Nigeria through to the first WC on the Continent (my new point of Africa, since so many refer to it as if it were a country…I digress). Ireland squandered multiple opportunities and lost to a lackluster France squad 1-0 in the first leg of their play-off. Bosnia-Herzegovina missed two glorious chances to score a tying goal and lost 1-0 in the first leg of their play-off against Portugal.
As amazing as all these games were, none were as riveting as the happenings before and during the Egypt v Algeria match in Egypt.
Upon arrival in Cairo, it was reported (and supported with some video footage) that the Algerian team bus was attacked by rowdy Egyptian fans.
FIFA pressed ahead with this game although a number of Algerian players were injured due to the incident. Perhaps more importantly, I’m sure the Algerians players were unnerved to be playing in such a heated contest with no sense of safety. To complicate things further, Egypt won by the 2-0 margin required to force a play-off in Sudan by scoring an injury time goal.
Were the Algerian players hard done? I think so. I can only image what must have been going through their heads, win and get hurt or lose and get home in one piece. What do you make of FIFA’s decision to not cancel this tie and reschedule? Is this not another case of a smaller and less powerful country getting the short end of the proverbial FIFA stick?
