The Algerian football newspaper Compétition did not beat about the bush after the country lost 3-2 in the first leg of their World Cup play-off in Burkina Faso. "This referee is a BASTARD!" it bawled on its front page, alongside a photo of Janny Sikazwe, the Zambian official who awarded the home side an 86th-minute penalty for handball after a shot by Bertrand Traoré struck the defender Essaid Belkalem.
"His hands were behind his back and he was outside the area but should Belkalem have cut off his arms?" wondered Compétition sarcastically. Although Algeria's manager, Vahid Halilhodzic, skipped the press conference for fear of saying something incendiary, the rage spawned by the decision has injected extra tension into Tuesday's second leg in Blida.
The Burkinabe Football Federation (FBF) had originally arranged for 1,500 Stallions supporters to travel to the match but has instead decided to return its ticket allocation, claiming that "exaggerations" in the Algerian media have created a toxic atmosphere that could trigger the same sort of violence that marred last year's Africa Cup of Nations play-off between Senegal and Ivory Coast. "We are confident of securing qualifying anyway, so we don't wish to expose our supporters [to danger]," explained the FBF president Sita Sangaré, although up to 300 Algeria-based Burkinabe students are expected to be among a crowd of 45,000 at the Mustapha Tchaker stadium.
Burkina's manager, Paul Put, is not a man who likes to dwell on his past but Algeria fans have been mentioning it frequently in the buildup to the second leg. Put has served a three-year ban in his native Belgium for match-fixing and has always protested that he was a victim rather than a willing perpetrator of nefarious practices that he says were widespread in Europe when he was the manager of Lierse in 2005. He, along with at least 30 other defendants, is due to appear in a long-delayed court case relating to alleged corruption masterminded by the Chinese businessman, Ye Zheyun, who denies any wrongdoing.
Put maintains that he only accepted the suspension in Belgium so he would be allowed to continue to earn a livelihood elsewhere and he has been doing that in Africa, first taking charge of Gambia, where he just about achieved a par performance, and then being appointed manager of Burkina Faso and surprisingly guiding them to the final of this year's Africa Cup of Nations, where they lost narrowly to Nigeria. The nation reaching the World Cup finals for the first time would represent a sort of personal redemption for him and ignite unprecedented national celebrations in Burkina.
Burkina's chances of making history might be greater if it were not for the penalties in the first leg: while the fury over the one awarded by Sikazwe and successfully converted by Aristide Bancé ensures they will face an even more hostile environment in the away leg, the (less contentious) one missed by Bancé in the first half of that match means Burkina only have a one-goal advantage.
Algeria, with two away goals and a formidable record in Blida, are confident of overturning that. They know, however, that their finishing will have to be sharper than it was in Ouagadougou where, once they abandoned their caution after falling behind and the Valencia midfielder Sofianie Feghouli became more influential, they created enough goalscoring opportunities to have won the match regardless of refereeing blunders.
But Burkina, expert counter-attackers, are confident of scoring in the second leg too, especially as their hosts will likely stream forward from the start, leaving gaps that could be exploited by the delightfully quick-witted Rennes forward Jonathan Pitroipa and the fleet-footed striker Préjuce Nakoulma.
The Stallions attack could also be boosted by Alain Traoré, the Lorient striker who is fit again after an injury-ravaged year, and his brother Bertrand, the outrageously gifted 18-year-old who recently completed a transfer to Chelsea and has since wrought havoc in the Algerian defence after being introduced for the final 15 minutes of the first leg.
That game showed that both teams have much more talent going forward than in defence, although the Burkinabes will be reassured that the Lyon defender Bakary Koné, who departed injured in the fourth minute of the first leg, has recovered to help try to withstand the anticipated onslaught.
Fifa has appointed Africa's most experienced referee, Senegal's Badara Diatta, to take charge of a match that promises goals and drama.
