On the bench, the Algerian players have haggard eyes, totally stunned. In the stands, the supporters are knocked out, like groggy. In Algiers, Oran, everywhere in the country or in the whole community, sadness mixes with incomprehension. This Thursday in Douala, the sky fell on Algeria. Condemned to victory to hope to be able to continue his journey after his failed start to CAN – draw against Sierra Leone and defeat against Equatorial Guinea -, the defending champion logically lost to Côte d’Ivoire.
The Elephants, trained by Patrick Beaumelle, a former assistant to Hervé Renard, mastered this match and finished first in this group E. Thirty years later, history has therefore stuttered. Arrived as African champions in Senegal in 1992, Algeria had been eliminated in the heat of Ziguinchor. In his group, there was already Côte d’Ivoire, which had won 3-0 on January 13, 1992. Like a cruel remake…
Monday in our columns, Nordine Kourichi, the former international and assistant to Vahid Halilhodžić at the Fennecs, felt that “defensively, this team does not have the insurance it had”. The actions of the two goals conceded in the first period can only prove him right. If Algeria had started rather well on the ersatz pitch of the Japoma stadium in Douala, it was not deluded for very long.
Mahrez missed penalty
After a post found by Ismaël Bennacer (21st), it was his AC Milan teammate, the Ivorian Franck Kessié who took advantage of the passivity of the defense to open the scoring (1-0, 22nd). It’s even worse on the second goal scored by Ibrahim Sangaré, completely forgotten at the far post on a free kick from his captain, the former Parisian Serge Aurier (2-0, 39th).
The match then turned into torture after the break where Djamel Belmadi tried everything for everything with the return of Islam Slimani. Nicolas Pépé transforms the defeat of the Fennecs into humiliation (3-0, 54th) then Riyad Mahrez sends the penalty of the (small) hope on the post when he had however taken the Ivorian goalkeeper Sangaré on the wrong foot. The symbol of this CAN where nothing has turned in the right direction for Algeria despite its fire attack on paper. But she has not completely lost her football in the Cameroonian humidity as shown by the beautiful collective movement on the reduction of the score of Sofiane Bendebka (3-1, 74th). A simple burst of pride.
Arrived in Cameroon with a series of 35 games without defeat, two games from the record of Italy, Algeria fell from a very high level. In a country where the art of criticism is one of the favorite sports and the press rather aggressive, this is likely to scold. Often appearing tense during press conferences, Djamel Belmadi will have to put out the fire and remobilize his group for the qualifying play-offs for the World Cup in March.
Côte d’Ivoire finished first in the group and qualified for the round of 16, like Equatorial Guinea, winner (1-0) of Sierra Leone. The Comoros also qualify among the best 3rd. History for its first CAN.
