Douala (Cameroon), special envoy
Suffocating. Like the moist air of Douala, which is well over 30°C. Suffocating. Like the cruel challenge for the Algerian football team: it had to win at all costs to survive in the African Cup of Nations (CAN). Choked? The Algerians were there throughout the ninety minutes of the meeting which opposed them to Côte d’Ivoire Thursday, January 20 in Douala (Cameroon), for the third and last match of the first round of the competition.
With only one point totaled in two games (0-0 against Sierra Leone; 0-1 against Equatorial Guinea), the Fennecs were not entitled to another defeat. However, against Côte d’Ivoire, the “z’hommes” were knocked down 3 goals to 1. Defending champion, great favorite, Algeria thus finished last in its group and came out of the first round of the CAN, as in 1992.
Who would have bet on such a bankruptcy? “It’s just a failure. reacted Djamel Belmadi, without being afraid to pronounce the word. We didn’t live up to the competitiontion. Under the deafening sound of the vuvuzelas, the Desert Warriors were unable to find the fault with the Ivorians who were already qualified before even playing this final confrontation of the chickens.
“It was almost the perfect match,” enthused the coach of the Elephants, Patrice Beaumelle, who had predicted a meeting “electric”. He was not wrong. With a twirling attack, a solid defense, the Ivorians put “in the manner, the heart, the desire, and then, I believe, the determination to finish [leurs] actions, he explained. Algeria [était] a formidable adversary who, in this competition, did not know how to gain confidence. We felt a frustration on their effectiveness. We must not let the Fennecs wake up. »
Algeria has misplaced its magic and its game
The Algerians failed to “wake up” from this Cameroonian nightmare, uncharacteristically clumsy in front of opposing goals. And even when they got a penalty, Riyad Mahrez, the captain, missed his shot, sent back by the left post. Algeria lacked success – not to say luck – during their three group matches. But how to explain that such a flamboyant collective, before the start of the competition, could break up?
“Difficult to make a rational analysis immediately after such a big disappointment. We had at heart, on this match, to catch up a little, at least from an accounting point of view, if not the way. Something we couldn’t do reacted the coach of the Greens who seemed, on the edge of the field, dejected, his face in his hands. From the moment when, since the start of the tournament, we do not realize our opportunities, doubt may have arisen. »
Algeria has misplaced its magic and its game which had allowed it to chain thirty-five games without defeat in three years. A series that ended against modest Equatorial Guinea on January 16, when they were only two games away from equaling the record held by Italy. “There was an excess of confidence”, says Mehdi Amazigh Dahak, founder of the online newspaper DZfoot. Especially since the Fennecs had arrived at this edition of the CAN galvanized by their victory in the Arab Cup – with the A ‘team and a few holders -, in Doha, in December 2021.
The Greens were unrecognizable in Cameroon. They only scored one goal in three games. “The Algerian team initially lacked realism and then confidence”, considers Mehdi Amazigh Dahak. Several factors may have weighed on the overall performance. The preparation had been chopped with players released on January 3 (while the competition started on the 9th) instead of December 27, cases of Covid which affected the workforce and a canceled friendly match against Gambia.
The coach also displayed blind confidence in his men even though he had been invited by some observers to put some on the bench. There was a lack of “questioned despite warning signs, such as very average matches, particularly in the World Cup qualifiers, and which left the Algerians lost on the way”, ajute Mehdi Amazigh Dahak.
“We will be able to focus on the important things”
In Algiers, the fans, stunned, greeted with realism the defeat of their national team. “Honestly, as everything is bad with us, we clung to football to cheer us up but it seems that it was no longer the same team. We don’t know what happened to them during this CAN., wonders Latifa, 46, seated with her sister and her nephew in a café in an upscale district of the capital.
“We expected a change in the composition of the team. The opponents know our game and our faults, we had to change what is not working., argues Karim, 29, who says to himself “disappointed to always see the same faces on the field” , but shows unconditional support for coach Djamel Belmadi.
Throughout the competition, the coach of the Fennecs was able to count on the confidence of the supporters who nicknamed him the “Minister of Happiness”. They are eternally grateful to him for having won a second star during the CAN in Egypt, in July 2019, in the middle of hirak, this peaceful popular “movement”, which had put an end to the reign of Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Moreover, during press conferences, Mr. Belmadi recalls that he also plays to make the Algerian people proud.
In Algeria, football is never far from politics. After their victory in the Arab Cup, the internationals marched through the streets of Algiers and were treated to a presidential reception. The photos of the footballers in the presence of officials including several members of the government and the army chief of staff, Saïd Chengriha, had also been the subject of comments and ridicule on social networks.
The Head of State, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who closely followed – and supported – the course of the Greens during the CAN, reacted again via his twitter account after the fatal match against the Ivorians: “A defeat often serves as a lesson and constitutes a motive that catalyzes the enthusiasm and the will of determined and ambitious people to surpass themselves and bring out the best in themselves. Do not give up. Persevere, believe in your abilities and go after your ambitions. »
This omnipresence of politics in sport, not to say recovery, is somewhat annoying. ” It’s good. We are done once and for all with the competition. We can focus on the important things.”, slips knowingly, a young shopkeeper from downtown Algiers.
The country is affected by a fourth wave of Covid-19 and to counter it, classes have been suspended in schools, colleges and high schools since January 20 for ten days. Algeria also has to deal with shortages of certain subsidized products as well as socio-professional demands in several sectors.
In two months, another challenge awaits the national football team: it will have to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, which will take place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18. Until then, he will have to regain some of his past magic.