timesonline

ension may be high in Paris, Maribor, Donetsk, Zenica and Montevideo this evening, when the remaining places in the 2010 World Cup finals are decided, but it will reach fever pitch in Khartoum, Sudan. Only the brave or foolhardy should attend.

Algeria take on Egypt, their deadliest of enemies, at the neutral venue of the Al-Merreikh Stadium in Omdurman, a suburb of the Sudanese capital. The African group C play-off is an incendiary mix, fireworks guaranteed.

“It’s going to be absolute madness,” Stephen Constantine said. “Two million Egyptians live in Sudan and the Algerians are everywhere. They have a love-hate relationship — well, mostly hate — it’s going to be bedlam.”

Constantine, 47, should know. The London-born Arsenal fan of English and Greek Cypriot stock has been coach of Sudan for the past nine months. His team will not play in the finals in South Africa, having finished bottom of group D, but he marvels at the unquenchable passion for football on the continent.