Algeria picks up a big fish
By Guillaume Mahot
The Algerian fennecs confirmed their good predispositions last Tuesday by beating Colombia 3-0 in Lille on a friendly game. Before challenging France in 2020?
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The winners in title of the last African Cup of Nations (1-0 in final against Senegal) were eager to be competing with international nations for them to size up and get better and better. As coach Belmadi claimed, it is a good idea to confront to the best ones to reach a certain level, even though Africa remains the most important with the upcoming qualifiers for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
Some will say Colombia is not part of the best ones though. The team of offensive midfielder James Rodriguez, who had not been summoned for this gathering, may be in the hard part but they are still a big name in Latin America. The last tournaments were disappointing with an elimination in 1/8 final of the 2018 Russian world cup (against England) and another one in quarterfinal of the 2019 Copa America (defeat on penalty kicks against Chile). Nonetheless, they can still rely on valuable players who were on the pitch in northern France for this opposition, such as Luis Muriel, Juan Cuadrado or David Ospina.
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Algeria, surfing on their last African coronation, made Colombia feel stifled with a mastered game in a great atmosphere, a packed stadium and three beautiful goals from Baghdad Bounedjah (15’) and Riyad Mahrez (20’ 65’). As said when Senegal got the draw against Brazil, it is nothing more than a friendly game but it can bring confidence anyway, all the more as Algeria has now been undefeated for sixteen games.
Challenging the best squads, meaning challenging the world cup winner? This is actually the desire of both France and Algeria, whose presidents of football federations Noël Le Graët and Kheïreddine Zetchi must meet shortly to discuss this opportunity. The last France-Algeria in Paris (2001) was a complete disaster, and this would be a real occasion to start from scratch.
Africa Global News Publication
