African champion in danger in group E! Algeria faces Côte d’Ivoire in a clash at the top which could be decisive for the survival of the Fennecs in CAN-2022. In the other match, Sierra Leone faces Equatorial Guinea. The winner of the duel will have every chance of joining the round of 16.
The defending champion released in the first round? It would be another earthquake in the CAN-2022, after the elimination of Ghana. Algeria is up against the wall before its shock, Thursday, January 20, against Côte d’Ivoire. A defeat or a draw and the Fennecs will return home and leave their place in the eighth to one of the outsiders of group E, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone, who are jubilant to have been able to annoy the giants of the continent.
“Emergency situation”, summarizes Djamel Belmadi, the Algerian coach. “It’s a game that we absolutely have to win.”
With only one point, and zero goals scored, the defending champion knows the contract. The danger is less great for the “Elephants”, who already have 4 points after their first two matches in group E.
“The worst scenario would be not to qualify with 4 points,” says coach Patrice Beaumelle. Even in case of defeat, Côte d’Ivoire should finish, at worst, among the four best third. The Comoros, third with 3 points in Group C, are already lower ranked.
Normally, a poster worthy of a final
A great CAN classic, the Algeria-Côte d’Ivoire poster from the group stage was a delight for football lovers. Many imagined a scenario like in 2019 where the Algeria – Senegal poster had also been the final of the competition. From now on, it’s just a matter of surviving without thinking about February 6th.
True to his reputation, Belmadi also replied curtly to a question from the media. “On the two (first) meetings, you speak to me of an ‘unrecognizable’, ‘disorganized’ Algeria, I don’t agree at all, I don’t know where you got that from, or if you have seen. It is rather an inefficient Algeria, which lacked skill, “he replied.
Its captain, Riyad Mahrez, shares the observation: “We are doing good things, we are creating a lot of chances, but we lack efficiency”, notes the Manchester City player, who wants to show “optimism”.
“The pressure, we live with, a little more pressure perhaps, given the situation, we absolutely have to win,” adds the Mancunian. “But sometimes we have to go through it, it forges the group, the team, it pushes us.”
2019 African champion, eighth finalist of the 2018 World Cup, the “Greens” have shown that they know how to play under pressure, insists Mahrez, who “does not think of defeat or returning home”.
Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone enjoy
The other match in Group E will oppose two teams that have played the troublemakers of a group yet promised on paper to Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire. Sierra Leone hopes to join, for the first time in its history, the knockout stages of the African Cup. This requires a success against Equatorial Guinea, which hopes, for its part, to reconnect with the performances of the early 2010s (a quarter-final and a semi-final)
Sierra Leone can savor. She snatched two draws from the two favorites of group E. A 0-0 against Algeria then a 2-2 against Côte d’Ivoire. In the mixed zone, after this last performance, the players relished.
“These two matches are among the hardest of my life. It necessarily gives us confidence for the future”, explained Osman Kakay, defender of the team at the microphone of France 24. “That has always been our objective. We do not We didn’t come there just to make up the numbers. We came there to be competitive. We hope to finish the job in the next game.”
Long considered an English international, after a single cap against Sweden in 2012, Steven Caulker finally joined the ranks of Sierra Leone in December 2021. An integration that came naturally to the 30-year-old defender, to see him parading in the mixed zone with her teammates, pregnant spitting out a festive sound in her hands.
“I only joined this selection a few months ago and it’s exciting. It’s great to be part of this group. Everyone is doing their part and [ces performances] are a team effort”, explains the player; who was poached by the country of his grandfather to bring his experience.
“Together we are invincible”
“For us, there are no ‘best teams’. Football is what happens on the pitch. They might have had great players but you don’t play against names. We is here to win”, announced the local coach, John Edward Keister, who has presided over the destiny of the selection since 2017.
Their opponents on Thursday, the players from Equatorial Guinea, were not to be outdone after their titanic performance against Algeria at the Japoma Stadium: Dani Guindos’ men ended Algeria’s unbeaten streak which had lasted for 35 matches.
“It’s one of the happiest days of our lives,” notes Cosme Anvene. “Algeria may have the best players, we are a family and we won. We don’t have a ‘top player’, we are a united group and together we are invincible.”
The meeting between the two teams will be like a round of 16 at 5 p.m. in Limbé.
