World Cup Qualifiers Get Violent
Algerian Players Bloodied on way to Qualifier
As the coming weekend approaches, so does the heat from the up coming matches. Mainly, the North African Derby of Egypt and Algeria. With a history of dislike, these two teams are set for an fiery and possibly violent meeting in Cairo to see who moves on to next summer’s World Cup in South Africa.
Emotions are already flaring after the Egyptian fans greeted some of the opposing players with stones. Because of this, FIFA has demanded that Egyptian authorities provide a higher level of security to protect the significantly outnumbered Algerians.
FIFA delegate, Walter Gagg, witnessed the incident and told reporters:
“We saw that three players had been injured — Khaled Lemmouchia on the head, Rafik Halliche above the eye and Rafik Saifi on the arm.
“These weren’t superficial injuries. With the stitches needed, we will have to see if these players can play. The team doctor has still to make a decision on that.”
This comes as no surprise to people who know the past between these bitter rivals. In 1989, the two clashed in a game that ended in riots. How will this weekend’s match go? Stay tuned to find out!
I understand the tension between the two teams, although there actions are not excusable. Soccer is a beauitful game, people like this should be banned from the sport. Fan violence is a big problem that cant really be avoided, you cant teach adults how to behave after they’ve already grown up. This is massive occasion and hopefully the security in Cario can withstand the violence without any injuries, and with a quality performance put on the pitch by both teams.