The coach of the national football team, Djamel Belmadi, assured the Algerian fans the day after the 0-0 draw with Sierra Leone in a match that took place on Tuesday at Japoma Stadium in Douala as part of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (postponed to 2022) organized in Cameroon (January 9 – February 6).
“We will try to make our people proud, the players are determined,” Belmadi told Algerian media on Wednesday evening. “Yesterday, a goal could have changed the course of the game, we are on the frontline, and it is only an experience for the future.”, he added.
The Algerian coach’s statements came on the sidelines of the other Group 5 match, which opposed on Wednesday evening, Equatorial Guinea to Cote d’Ivoire (0-1) in Douala.
Belmadi indicated: “The Algerian people know that their team is there and that it is fighting. We face many adversities that sometimes go beyond the pitch. Today we are the targeted team at all levels, we talk about us all day long. This is the price of glory, and we bear this prestige.”
He stressed that the African champions are called upon to make up for Sunday’s match against Equatorial Guinea at Japoma Stadium (20h 00) to try to get back on track in the race to qualify for the round of 16.
The national coach said: “We were not happy with the end result, but when we analyze we are one of the favorite teams that have given the most chances. We’ll get back to work quickly and really focus on the next match.”
Meanwhile, Belmadi gave assurances about the health status of midfielder Ismail Bennacer and goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja, who were absent from training on Wednesday.
He went on to say, “They are better. They couldn’t train today. We’ll see how they will be tomorrow.”
The president of the Algerian Football Federation (FAF), Amara Charafeddine, who was present alongside Belmadi, considered that the players “learned the lesson” after this bad start.
“This is a failure, especially since we are used to winning,” he said. We could have done better but the first game in the tournament always has its specificity. We couldn’t take advantage of the situation we were in. We’ve learned the lesson l and the players are professional player.
