CAIRO: African Cup of Nations champion Egypt needs a win in Zambia to give the team a realistic chance of reaching next year s World Cup in South Africa.
Egypt trails Algeria by three points with two games remaining. If Group C is not settled this weekend, Egypt then meets Algeria in Cairo next month.
Egypt last qualified for World Cup in 1990, while Algeria last appeared at the tournament in 1986.
Egypt has not had a generation of players like this for a very long time, Egypt striker Amr Zaki said. This generation has been together for six years now and has gained great confidence from winning the African Cup in 2006 and 2008.
Egypt s qualifying bid got off to a bad start after it was held to a 1-1 draw by Rwanda and then lost 3-1 in Algeria – which is hosting Rwanda on Sunday and will qualify it betters Egypt s result.
There are six points to play for. That is all we are thinking about, said Zaki, who scored his 27th goal for Egypt in a recent friendly against Mauritius. We re not looking at goal difference, our aim is just to win the remaining matches in our group.
Ghana is already through and there are four places still technically up for grabs. Although Ivory Coast needs a point from its remaining two games, it has a hugely better goal difference than Burkina Faso.
Didier Drogba s free-scoring Ivory Coast team is averaging nearly four goals per game and has won its four matches so far in Group E. The Ivorians travel to Blantyre on Saturday to face last-place Malawi.
Cameroon, meanwhile, has enjoyed a stunning change in fortune under coach Paul Le Guen, who revived the Indomitable Lions with back-to-back wins against Gabon last month.
Cameroon leads Group A, a point ahead of Gabon, and the team will be confident of taking a step closer to South Africa by beating Togo in Yaounde on Saturday. Gabon needs to keep the pressure on by beating Morocco in Libreville.
Le Guen is a very professional coach and very knowledgeable when it comes to modern football, Cameroon striker Pierre Webo said. The important thing isn t just that we won against Gabon, but that we played great football, too.
Cameroon is even more determined to qualify after missing out on the last World Cup in Germany.
That failure was felt throughout the country, and now the entire nation is excited about going to South Africa next year, Webo said. We re very conscious of what we re playing for.
In Group B, Tunisia will qualify by beating Kenya in Rades on Sunday if Nigeria fails to beat Mozambique in Abuja the same day.
Ghana can relax at Group D rival Benin in Cotonou on Sunday, while Mali hosts Sudan in Bamako. In Sunday s other game, Guinea plays Burkina Faso in Group E.
