CAIRO: Algeria tactician Rabeh Saadan said his team s 2010 World Cup qualifier against Rwanda is more important than their highly-anticipated clash with Egypt.
The Pharaohs have been drawn in Group C alongside Algeria, Zambia and Rwanda in the last phase of the World Cup and African Cup of Nations (CAN) qualifying stage.
Rwanda will host Algeria on March 28th, and the latter will play their second away tie against Egypt on June sixth.
We are concerned about our encounter against Rwanda, it s a pivotal game which our campaign is contingent on, Saadan told a press conference.
This game is more critical than the Egypt showdown. Opening games are always of the utmost importance.
In the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Algeria played out an away 1-1 draw with Rwanda, before clinching a 1-0 win at home in the return leg.
Both teams failed to reach the gigantic competition at the time.
The results of our first legs will indicate whether we will make it to the World Cup or just qualify for the African cup of nations, Saadan elaborated.
Our priority is to qualify for the World Cup, not the African Cup of nations.
Ironically, the controversial boss declared several months ago that the Algerians main objective was to secure a place in CAN.
We want to guarantee qualifying for CAN by earning a top three spot, and then we ll see about the World Cup, Saadan told Al-Jazeera sports last October.
Only Groups top teams will book berths in the World Cup, whereas the first three from each group will reach the continental competition.
When asked about his team, Saadan said: one of their problems is that they cannot psych themselves up. That s an issue that has to be carefully addressed.
I put my finger on this problem during the 2004 African Cup of Nations, and now we are still suffering the same disadvantage.
