Source: Daily_Mail
World Cup Special: It's win or bust! Ronny not the only star with all to lose
From Montevideo to Maribor, the stifling heat of Sudan to the shivering cold of Ukraine, the final act of a dramatic World Cup qualifying campaign will be played out across the globe on Wednesday night.[LNB]Five play-off, second leg games in Europe and South America and a sudden-death eliminator in Africa will decide the last six places at next summer's finals in South Africa and spell heartbreak for the six losers.[LNB]No team leading from the first leg has failed to make it through the play-offs, which bodes well for Portugal, Russia and France.[LNB] Heads you win: Alves gives Portugal their slender one-goal advantage over Bosnia[LNB]But with just a single-goal advantage for the return games, there is a possibility that star names like World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Andrey Arshavin will be missing when the party starts in less than seven months' time.[LNB] Algeria v Egypt showdown: Now that's what you call a grudge match!Irish are out to make France midfielder Diarra pay for World Cup insultGRAHAM POLL: Play-off contenders aren't alone in bid to reach World Cup It will be a night of contrasting emotions, but nowhere will the tension be higher than the Al Merreikh Stadium in the neutral Sudanese venue of Omdurman where Egypt face Algeria for the right to progress as the only Arab qualifier.[LNB]After Algeria's team bus was ambushed by a stone-throwing mob before their dramatic defeat by Egypt on Saturday, captain Rafik Saifi is happy to play anywhere except Cairo. He doubts the Algerian team and their fans would all have got out alive if they had qualified at Egypt's expense.[LNB]'The fact that it happened in an Arabic country, where they are supposed to be our brothers, shocked me,' said Saifi. [LNB]'After this, I'm sorry but they are not my brothers.[LNB] Loathe thy neighbour: Algeria captain Rafik Saifi (R), in action against Hany Said, admits he is desperate to overturn their 2-0 deficit against their bitter rivals Egypt[LNB]'If it has come to this, then it would be better for me to stop football and do another job. I'd prefer to keep my life and my family because if we'd won over there then there most certainly would have been deaths.[LNB]'But we have to try and forget about this and open a new chapter. We will try to give a bit of joy back to the people of Algeria who have suffered with us.'[LNB]It has made the war of words between France and the Republic of Ireland look quite tame by comparison ahead of their second leg play-off.[LNB]There is no under-estimating Irish anger over the disrespectful remarks Lassana Diarra is alleged to have made towards Keith Andrews after France won 1-0 at Croke Park on Saturday night.[LNB]Giovanni Trapattoni's side must emulate Scotland's shock Euro 2008 win in Paris two years ago to stand a chance, but the statistics do not make happy reading for the Italian coach and 25,000 Irish fans who head for France hoping for a minor miracle.[LNB]Ireland have never won there and the 1998 world champions have not lost a World Cup qualifier since their defeat to Russia a decade ago. The Russians seemed to be comfortably on course for South Africa when they took a two-goal lead against Slovenia in Moscow, but Nejc Pecnik's late away goal has left Guus Hiddink's teamfacing a tense night in Maribor.[LNB] Under pressure: Despite their 1-0 advantage, Russia face a tough task in Slovenia[LNB]Slovenia, who have conceded just one goal in five qualifiers at home, need only a 1-0 win to deny Hiddink and Arsenal star Arshavin a place in the finals.[LNB]'There's no need to go from one extreme to another, no room for panic,' said former Chelsea boss Hiddink. [LNB]'We did not lose the first match, we won it. We are going to Slovenia in a brave mood.'[LNB]A similar prospect faces Portugal, the semi-finalists at Germany 2006, who will again be without injured Ronaldo for the difficult trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina. A 1-0 lead from the first leg was secured after the Bosnians hit the woodwork three times, and coach Miroslav Blazevic has warned his side will 'attack the Portuguese like hungry wolves'.[LNB]Blazevic can call on one of Europe's most promising young strikers in Edin Dzeko, who is attracting interest from Manchester United and AC Milan after scoring 26 goals for Wolfsburg last season.[LNB]Up against it: Bosnia-Herzegovina are pinning their World Cup dream on free-scoring striker Edin Dzeko[LNB]Dzeko has added another nine for Bosnia in qualifying and will be the main threat to the Portuguese who know they will also have to contend with a volatile atmosphere in Zenica.[LNB]Theofanis Gekas leads Dzeko in the European scoring charts on 10 goals for Greece, and they will be banking on the Bayer Leverkusen striker adding to that tally after a dour goalless draw in the first-leg at home to Ukraine.[LNB]A major obstacle for the Greeks, though, will be the fact that temperatures in Donetsk are expected to reach freezing point.[LNB]Argentina's dramatic escape act in Montevideo last month consigned Uruguay to the play-offs for the third time in a row, but the two-time world champions will be optimistic about their chances as they return to the Estadio Centenario with a one-goal advantage over Costa Rica.[LNB] The game will finish after midnight, bringing to an end a qualifying campaign that began two-and-a-half years ago when the Oceania group set the ball rolling in Samoa.[LNB]Since then 25 teams have joined hosts South Africa in the draw, with six more to follow. The big question is: which six?[LNB] Algeria v Egypt showdown: Now that's what you call a grudge match!Irish are out to make France midfielder Diarra pay for World Cup insultGRAHAM POLL: Play-off contenders aren't alone in bid to reach World Cup [LNB]
