Tense Algeria-Egypt match kicks off in Sudan

Nov 18, 2009, 16:54 GMT

Khartoum/Cairo - The World Cup qualifier between bitter rivals Algeria and Egypt kicked off in Sudan on Wednesday, with chanting fans mobbing the streets of Khartoum and Cairo.

Many in Sudan had flocked home early on what had been deemed a half-day.

Tensions have been high since Saturday, when Egypt scored in the last minute to give 'The Pharaohs' the 2-0 victory they needed to stay alive and face Algeria in the playoff in Sudan.

Sudanese forces monitored and cordoned off streets.

Authorities in Egypt and Algeria took similar precautions. Media reports in the French city of Marseilles, home to a large Algerian population, and Kuwait City, home to a large Egyptian population, said security had been beefed up.

The game at the 42,000-seat Al-Marraikh Stadium, in Sudan's largest city, Omdurman. Fans on the streets wore Algeria's green and white and others donned the red, black and white of the Egyptian side.

Cars were decorated with the two country's flags and drivers professed their loyalties, honking their horns.

'My husband and I had tickets to go to the game, but we're worried about safety and about being able to get home,' said one woman who did not want to be named.

Some residents told the German Press Agency dpa that they had heard of clashes between Algerian and Egyptian fans, but that such reports were not likely to make it into the tightly controlled Sudanese press.

Sudan, which is not a typical tourist destination, has received tens of thousands of football fans. Politicians have been among the planeloads of people who have jetted in.

In the weeks leading up to the first match, Egyptian and Algerian fans have gone to war online, through their music and on television and radio.

Passions have had diplomatic repercussions, and businesses and fans have been attacked in Algiers and Cairo.

The tensions follow a rivalry that has simmered for decades. Fans rioted when Egypt beat Algeria in 1989 to qualify for the World Cup. Neither team has qualified since.