CAIRO: Algeria coach Rabah Saadane pointed the finger at referee Yakhouba Keita for Algeria s failure to beat Rwanda by a wider margin than Saturday s 3-1 home victory.
The Desert Foxes were hoping to register a bigger victory to virtually secure a place at next year s World Cup but the result means that Group C race will go down to the wire.
Egypt can reach the tournament if they defeat Algeria 3-0 at Cairo Stadium on November 14, a victory that will help them go level on 13 points with their North African rivals.
In such case, the Pharaohs will secure passage to the South Africa finals ahead of Algeria due to better goal difference.
Algeria had the chance to avoid such scenarios but they were incapable of claiming a comprehensive win over minnows Rwanda, who scored their first goal of the qualifiers.
The referee denied us a big win tonight, Saadane, who aims to help Algeria qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, was quoted as saying by local media after the game.
Keita adjudged a close-range shot from defender Antar Yahia not to have crossed the line but TV replays suggested otherwise.
The Guinean official also infuriated Algeria players and technical staff with some controversial offside decisions.
Saadane still believes that Algeria are well equipped to overcome a challenge from Egypt and finish on top of the group.
We are in excellent spirits, and if we maintain concentration and everything goes well we will grace the World Cup, he was quoted as saying by FIFA.com.
Victory allows us to stay focused before our final game against Egypt because we have put all of the pressure on them.
