By DB Peters Nov 18, 2009, 22:12 GMT
Hamburg - There was controversy in Paris, an upset in Donetsk, drama in Maribor and Omdurman and disappointment in Zenica as France, Greece, Slovenia, Algeria and Portugal on Wednesday qualified for the finals of next year's World Cup in South Africa.
France drew 1-1 with Ireland but went through 2-1 on aggregate, while Slovenia advanced on the away goal rule after beating Russia 1- 0 for a 2-2 aggregate.
Greece went through 1-0 on aggregate after winning 1-0 in the Ukraine and Portugal beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 to repeat their scoreline from Saturday's fist leg.
The only African play-off on the night saw Algeria beat Egypt 1-0 in the Sudanese city of Omdurman to see the Desert Foxes through in the play-off made necessary after the north African rivals ended up level on points and goals scored and conceded at the top of Group C of the African qualifiers.
In Paris, Ireland came agonizingly close to stunning 1998 world champions France as they led 1-0 at the end of 90 minutes through Robbie Keane's first half goal.
William Gallas scored the all-important equalizer for the home side in the 103rd minute after being set up by Thierry Henry. Irish goalkeeper Shay Given led vociferous protests against the goal, claiming that Henry had handled the ball - as television replays showed he clearly had.
The 1-1 draw gave the Les Bleus a 2-1 aggregate victory that takes them to South Africa, while Ireland will be very disappointed at the way they went out.
In Donetsk Greece stunned Ukraine with a 1-0 victory that saw the 2004 European champions through 1-0 on aggregate through Dimitrios Salpingidis' first half strike.
It was practically the Greeks' only chance in the game and the clinical finish by Salpingidis was good enough to take Greece to their second-ever World Cup finals.
German coach Otto Rehhagel, who was in charge of Greece for his 100th match, said he told his players that they needed give it their all during the match.
'I told them that they could not sit back at all, that they had to walk every mile and had to believe in their chance. They did that and I think they were simply rewarded for that.'
Slovenia stunned Russia 1-0 in Maribor in a match which the Russians ended with nine players after Alexander Kerzhakov and Yury Zhirkov were sent off.
Slovenia went into the clash in Maribor trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Moscow but never looked back after VfL Bochum striker Zlatko Dedic deftly steered a Valter Birsa pass beyond Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev a minute before the break.
The goal levelled the match at 2-2 on aggregate with Slovenia victorious on the away goals rule thanks to the late Nejc Pecnik goal in the first leg.
In Zenica, Porto midfielder Raul Meireles was the hero for Portugal as he scored in the second half to give his side a 1-0 victory on the night and a 2-0 victory on aggregate.
The Bosnia forward line of Edin Dzeko and Sejad Salihovic failed to deliver what they promised and although Dzeko came close early in the first half and then forced Eduardo into a good save shortly before the break, Bosnia were never really in with a chance.
Dzeko had another opportunity shortly after the break, but instead of the home side taking the lead, it was Raul Meireles who scored in the 56th minute.
Any hopes Bosnia had of coming back into the game were effectively ended in the 77th minute when Salihovic was shown a second yellow card and sent off.
Portugal then held onto their lead to qualify for their third consecutive finals.
In Sudan, a former French youth international who plays his club football in Germany became the hero for Algeria as he scored the goal that took the Desert Foxes to the finals with a 1-0 victory over Egypt.
French-born Anthar Yahia scored from an acute angle five minutes before the break to give Algeria the victory and take them to the finals for the first time since 1986.
The last place at next year's finals will be decided later Wednesday in the play-off between Uruguay and Costa Rica in Montevideo, with Uruguay leading 1-0 from the first leg.
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