ANYONE doubting the World Cup’s importance to supporters should consider events in Cameroon at the weekend after the nation failed to qualify for next summer’s finals. Angry spectators blocked stadium exits to prevent the players leaving for three hours after their team failed to secure the required home win over Egypt. That, though, was only the prelude.

The fans then got to work on Pierre Wome, who had missed a last-minute penalty that would have taken Cameroon to Germany. On Saturday night, a mob in Yaounde, the capital, smashed up the Inter Milan defender’s Mercedes and his sister’s hairdressing salon before ransacking his home. The house would have been set alight but for the intervention of police, who, the next day, gave the player a lift in an unmarked car to the airport, from where he left for Italy.

“They wanted to and could have killed me,” Wome, whose family are under police protection, said. “I have never been afraid of death, my concern was about the safety of my relatives.” Samuel Eto’o, the Barcelona and Cameroon striker, has said he was preparing to take the penalty until Wome approached him, claiming he was confident of scoring. But Wome denied that. “No one wanted to take it because they knew what could have happened if they missed, ” he said.

While France, Spain and the Czech Republic are unlikely to find themselves facing such a violent situation, all three could be eliminated in tonight’s final round of qualifying matches, although only the Czechs are in great danger. Nevertheless, France and Spain may well face the play-offs however they fare in their final matches.

For France, a defeat at home to Cyprus tonight would end their campaign while a draw or victory would guarantee at least a play-off place; a win would earn automatic qualification unless Switzerland win away to Ireland, in which case the French would need to secure a victory by a margin four goals greater than that achieved by the Swiss.

A rout of Cyprus may be beyond France. Thierry Henry and co have managed only ten goals in nine qualifiers and tonight they will be without the Arsenal player and David Trezeguet, their injured pair of leading strikers.

Patrick Vieira is concerned. “We’re likely to create a lot of chances but maybe we won’t score a goal early,” the former Arsenal player said. “If that happens, we might get stuck in a rut and the public will probably start to jeer us.”

The tendency for his side to draw games that has plagued Raymond Domenech, the France coach, has also toubled Luis Aragonés, who is undefeated in his 15 matches in charge of Spain but is likely to be forced into a play-off.

Spain are away to San Marino and only a failure to win would put them at risk of elimination tonight. But Serbia and Montenegro will top the group with victory at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina, while a draw between the former Yugoslav republics would allow Spain to progress to Germany with a win by five goals, or possibly four, depending on how many Serbia score.

“Spain deserves to finish first because we have a better team than the rest,” José Antonio Reyes, the Arsenal forward, said, but a good team may not be enough to save the Czech Republic from a World Cup exit. Having lost the race for top spot to Holland, the Czechs will only edge Romania out of second place by winning away to Finland. “Our team has always come back in critical situations over the years and we will hopefully prove that again,” Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper, said.

North and Central America, South America and Asia each have one play-off place up for grabs tonight. Trinidad and Tobago must beat Mexico at home to be sure of beating Guatemala to a play-off against Uzbekistan or Bahrain, who meet tonight, while one of Uruguay, Colombia and Chile will emerge to take on Australia, the Oceania winners.

After Saturday’s events, it is a relief that Africa’s qualification programme is complete.

THE BLAME GAME: FRANCE’S DARKEST HOUR

MEMORIES of an astonishing collapse and Gérard Houllier’s fallout with David Ginola will be stirred when France entertain Cyprus this evening, when a defeat would eliminate the home team. After the World Cup despair of 12 years ago, the Paris crowd will be taking nothing for granted.

Needing two points from their final two qualifying matches at home to Israel and Bulgaria to reach the 1994 World Cup finals, their presence in the United States seemed a foregone conclusion. Facing an Israel team that they had beaten 4-0 in Tel Aviv, France took the lead but contrived to concede goals in the 85th and 90th minutes to lose 2-1.

As it turned out, a draw at home to Bulgaria would have proved enough for qualification and again France scored first. But Bulgaria equalised and, with seconds remaining, Ginola lost the ball and the opposition swept to the other end of the pitch and scored. Afterwards, Houllier blamed the defeat on Ginola, who said later: “The guy tried to ruin me and my family.”

It was an embarrassment for France as they had been named hosts of the next World Cup in 1998.

TOP OF THE FLOPS: CZECHS HEAD LIST

FRANCE, Spain and the Czech Republic hope to avoid joining the list of leading countries who have been forced to sit out the World Cup finals in recent years. The Czechs missed out in 1994, as Czechoslovakia, and in 1998 and 2002 under their present guise. That was despite reaching the European Championship final in 1996 and getting to the final stages of that tournament in 2000.

France were World Cup semi-finalists in 1982 and 1986 and were champions in 1998, yet failed to qualify in 1990 and 1994. England also did not make it in 1994, their only failure in the seven competitions since 1978.

Portugal were blessed in the 1990s with the so-called golden generation, but failed to reach the finals in 1994 and 1998.

BILL EDGAR

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