African champions Egypt are admitted that they must defeat Rwanda to keep their hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World/Nations Cup finals on track.

Egypt head coach Hassan Shehata has belief that a world Cup berth is still within grasps.

"We still have a chance to reach the World Cup, but we must win our forthcoming qualifier against Rwanda, otherwise our campaign would be doomed to failure,” he explained.

Shehata put the Pharaohs’ 3-1 defeat to Algeria in Sunday’s World Cup qualifier down to the first goal they conceded.

The six-time African champions were relatively stable in the first half, but they suffered a sudden collapse after the interval to allow the Desert Foxes to notch three goals in less than 20 minutes.

Shehata is convinced that his men’s morale was completely damaged when the hosts broke the deadlock, saying the match ‘doesn’t reflect Egypt’s real caliber’.

"The opener was damaging, it abysmally affected us and gave Algeria the opportunity to seal a reasonable victory,” the former Zamalek star told Al-Khabar.

Egypt face a struggle to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after an away defeat to Algeria leaves them stranded at the bottom of their group.

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