Tears, blood, stress… The tough matches continue at the African Cup of Nations this Saturday, with already important meetings for Algeria and Tunisia, who had a very complicated start to the CAN against teams, a priori, within their reach. But, in Burkina Faso and Mali, Fennecs and Aigle de Carthage will have to achieve a strong performance to avoid compromising their future in the competition.
Fact of the day: Tanzania coach fired
The African Cup of Nations has barely started when Adel Amrouche is already fired. The Tanzania coach was suspended eight matches by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was fired on Friday by his federation after comments accusing Morocco of “managing African football”. Adel Amrouche, a native of Algeria, declared before the competition on television in his country that Morocco was “a recognized power in the world of African football” and that it “managed African football” by choosing the schedule in particular. matches and referees.
Adel Amrouche therefore ends the adventure with Tanzania in the middle of CAN, while his team lost its first match against Morocco on Wednesday (0-3), in group F. Tanzania which has never won a match in the CAN in three participations must face Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Match of the day: Tunisia-Mali
The shower was cold, very cold for the Eagles of Carthage. Beaten by the surprising Namibia in the first group match, Tunisia is already in trouble, even though it was one of the big outsiders in this African Cup of Nations. But don’t panic. “Argentina had also lost their first match at the World Cup, that did not prevent them from winning the trophy,” coach Jalel Kadri reacted after the match.
Except that the match against Namibia seemed within reach of the Tunisians, who will have a lot to do against Mali this Saturday (9 p.m.), a fairly easy winner over Mauritania. According to beIN Sports, the coach would already be under pressure, and the federation would have given a “last chance” to Jalel Kadri before facing the Eagles.
Player of the day: Riyad Mahrez
The former Manchester City player was ghostly against Angola (1-1), during Algeria’s first match of the group stage. Riyad Mahrez crystallizes the criticism, just like the Fennecs coach, Djamel Belmadi, whose reading of the match was not very convincing. But the former OM midfielder wanted to defend his player.
“The criticism of Riyad Mahrez is not new,” Belmadi explained at a press conference on Friday, on the eve of facing Burkina Faso (3 p.m.), in an already crucial match. In 2019, he was also criticized. I don’t listen to journalists. Mahrez is the European champion. He doesn’t even listen to criticism. We are focused on the team, the match. » Beware of backlash in the event of further poor performance.
Goal of the day: Kevin Gonçalvez
Cape Verde clearly dominated Mozambique on Friday (3-0), with two fantastic goals. Bebe’s 40-yard free kick could have been included in this section, but the goalkeeper was a little too guilty for our tastes. While this strike from Kevin Gonçalvez is simply unstoppable.
Supporter of the day:
