Cairo: A stunning first-half strike by defender Antar Yahya crushed Egyptian dreams as Algeria booked their ticket to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.Les Fennecs beat Egypt 1-0 at the neutral playoff venue of Sudan's Khartoum Stadium.
A playoff was required as a result of Saturday's dramatic 2-0 win for Egypt in Cairo when Emad Meteab scored the second goal in the dying moments of injury time.
The result delayed Algeria's passage to the World Cup finals as both sides finished level on points and goal difference at the top of African qualifying Group C.
Algeria become the fifth African nation to reach the finals, alongside Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
South Africa qualified as the host nation.
Concentration lapse
Egypt dominated possession without creating many goal scoring opportunities, while Algeria always looked dangerous on the break.
Yahya's 39th minute winner came against the run of play when he took advantage of a lapse in concentration by Egypt's defenders to hit a perfect volley in off the underside of the crossbar with his right foot from an acute angle.
The win means Algeria will make their first appearance at a World Cup since 1986 and once again highlighted Egypt's inability to carry their impressive form in Africa - they have won the African Cup a record six times - into World Cup qualification tournaments.
Security at the game had been carefully managed due to violence at the previous qualifier. At least 32 people were injured following Saturday's game.
Off the pitch, the rivalry had turned even more bitter with fans battling each other in both Cairo and Algiers.
Security
Sudan announced a security plan to deal with the influx of fans pouring into the country with organisers bracing for a closely fought grudge match between two long-time rivals.
Al Jazeera's Amr el-Kahky, who watched the match with fans in the Egyptian capital, Cairo said:
"The fans are sad, everyone is sad. Some people are really disappointed with the Egyptian performance, but some others are very proud of this generation of Egyptian players who have achieved a lot but failed to qualify."
"Everyone, more or less, was congratulating Algeria saying that what happened in Cairo, the stoning of the Algerian bus, was not characteristic and nothing has so far been reported on Egyptian streets."
"It is really saddening for the Egyptians, but what is more saddening for them is that they are accused of being hooligans and they insist they are not."
Egypt last appeared at a World Cup in 1990.
Failing once again to reach the game's biggest stage is likely to be hard to take for the passionate football-supporting Egyptian fans.
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