BENGUELA// The tension that hung over Omdurman in Sudan 70 days ago has now settled on Benguela as Egypt and Algeria prepare to reprise their World Cup qualifying play-off in today's African Cup of Nations semi-final. Algeria, as though they cannot bear even to be in the same town as their north African rivals, have set up camp in Lobito, about 25km along the coast.
It was, presumably, coincidence that Egypt took a stroll along a nearby beach there on Tuesday, but in the fevered atmosphere in which conspiracy and skulduggery are alleged at every turn, it felt like a shot across the bows. There are reports of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of Egyptian and Algerian fans descending on Benguela. Algeria's foreign affairs minister Mourad Medcli has even suggested hundreds of fans could be airlifted in and out again without the need for formal visas.
Nobody seems quite sure, though, how they could negotiate Angola's Byzantine visa regulations so quickly, or even how the airport at either Benguela or the neighbouring town of Catumbela could cope with more than the handful of planes they process at the moment. A mood of intense suspicion has descended, with Egypt refusing to speak to the media until after the game. In any other confederational competition, pre-match press conferences would be mandatory, but the Confederation of African Football has neither the inclination, the will or the means to impose the global standard, and stood idly by while journalists, who had been told two hours earlier that they could attend Egypt's training on Tuesday evening, were ejected by the Angolan police.
It later turned out they were acting, with their usual characteristic aggression and lack of charm, on the instructions of Hassan Shehata, Egypt's coach, who was so unnerved by the fact that an Algerian journalist had made it as far as the lobby of the Benguela hotel in which his team are based that he imposed a 48-hour blanket ban on all media. Earlier in the tournament, the Egypt forward Mohamed Zidan described him as a father figure who is always laughing and joking with his team, but that is not the face he presents to the rest of the world.
In Ghana two years ago, as Egypt successfully defended their title, he imposed a similar lockdown in the final stages, and his paranoia seems only to have been exacerbated by the opposition. It was in 1989 that rivalry became antipathy, as Algeria reacted furiously to defeat in a crucial World Cup qualifier in Cairo that has since been dubbed "the hate match". Potted plants were thrown as players and officials brawled on the pitch, while the Algeria striker Lakhdar Belloumi allegedly blinded the Egypt team doctor by hitting him in the eye with a bottle. An international arrest warrant against him was only dropped last year.
Relations were hardly improved by the two games in November. First Algeria claimed their team bus had been stoned in Cairo, as Egypt won 2-0 to force the play-off, and then around the game in the neutral venue of Sudan, both countries reported attacks on their citizens in the other's capital. Antar Yahia's goal settled the game in Algeria's favour, again denying Egypt a place at the World Cup, and it is clear they are driven by the desire for revenge.
Algeria, of course, have their own point to make. Amid all the posturing, it is easy to forget that there is a place in the final at stake. "It's great to play Egypt again," insisted the forward Hameur Bouazza. "It gives us a chance to prove that we beat them fairly and not through luck. "We won because of hard work and because we have talented players. "We have great character and spirit and that is our greatest quality. In this tournament we are getting better and better."
@Email:sports@thenational.ae Algeria v Egypt, 11.30pm, Aljazeera Sport 2 and +9