With more than two years of invincibility and carried by leading individuals, the Fennecs can dream of a double.
«We all know it won’t be easy but we’ll try to keep our title“. On the eve of the entry into the running against Sierra Leone on Tuesday (2 p.m.), Djamel Belmadi evokes an ambition “ultimate and logical“. Especially logical, given their status as title holders, since the conquest of a second continental coronation during CAN 2019, won at the expense of Senegal in the final (1-0).
«Algeria is the number 1 candidate for its own succession, summarizes Robert Malm, consultant on beIN SPORTS, exclusive broadcaster of the competition. This team is simply impressive and has just confirmed at the Arab Cup, even without all its internationals.“Carried by a bis selection, orphan of players playing in the Western championships, Algeria indeed won the Arab Cup in Qatar in mid-December, overcoming Tunisia in the final (2-0, ap).
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«We are the title holders but that does not mean that we are favorites and that we are going to win it again, tempers captain Riyad Mahrez, present alongside Belmadi on Monday. It will be harder than CAN 2019, the level is higher.“But Mahrez and his family enjoy a scarecrow status of the competition – with Senegal, which won with difficulty against Zimbabwe on Monday (1-0) – and will be expected at the turn for their entry into contention against the he supposedly weakest opponent in the pool, whom they have not faced since CAN 1996 (2-0).
World unbeaten record in sight
A seemingly quiet start before returning to Equatorial Guinea and finally the main course with the duel against Côte d’Ivoire on January 20 (5 p.m.), perhaps decisive for first place in Group E. As much opponents, however, within the reach of a team that walks on the water from the CAN in Egypt. “Algeria is a big machine, intelligent, disciplined, very well organized», Analyzes Claude Le Roy, connoisseur of African football.
And a machine that has not lost since the end of 2018 (if we hide a defeat against Morocco in the African Nations Championship, where only players playing in Africa can be selected), i.e. 33 official matches without defeat, an African and perhaps soon world record, while that of Italy (37 matches) seems within shooting range. A golden period for “the Greens” which corresponds to the mandate of Djamel Belmadi, appointed head of a national team in great difficulty in the summer of 2018. “There is an impressive discipline in this Algerian team, with a real idea of football“, Continues Le Roy, who is enthusiastic about the native of Champigny-sur-Marne,”a great trainer».
Bulky champion status
The uncompromising management of the former player of PSG and OM has allowed the selection to find the right path and to pose as a scarecrow at the time of running for a third continental crown. Very often on the front line, Belmadi does not hesitate to step up to reframe or defend his stars, as was the case recently of Riyad Mahrez, his jewel and captain, absent from the training camp in Doha (Qatar). “Riyadh had more matches with his club during Boxing Day, said the Algerian coach on Monday. We therefore found an agreement to let him breathe a bit since he played several matches. It was agreed to give him a little more recovery.»
Two days earlier, rumors lent the Manchester City striker a nightclub before joining his family. A first controversy disrupted a preparation upset Sunday by the attack on three Algerian journalists in Douala, the scene of the entry into the running of the Fennecs. A context hostile to the influence of a selection prepared to fight against headwinds. “It is always difficult for the countries of the North to go and win in sub-Saharan Africa“, Warns Le Roy, who won the CAN with Cameroon in 1988.
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And the status of the team to beat will be another stone in the shoe of Mahrez and company. “It’s always difficult to repeat this kind of exploitationt, notes Alain Giresse, coach of Tunisia between 2018 and 2019. The approach of champions is always different, especially from the opponent. The champion’s problem is not to fall asleep on its laurels, like France at the Euro. It’s unconscious. Algeria will find itself faced with maintaining its standing while opposite, the others will play against the champion.»
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