Measurement being a word which does not exist in the dictionary of the Algerian selection and its supporters, it was highly improbable that the shipwreck of the Fennecs would take place in calm and pleasure. In search of redemption after a non-qualification for the World Cup and a pitiful exit from the group stage of the CAN in 2022, the Greens once again missed out on the continental meeting.
Tuesday evening, once the elimination was confirmed, things started with a bang. From the post-match press conference, the Algerian coach, known for his “moderate” love of journalists, attacked a colleague of DZ who questioned him about his responsibilities in this fiasco. Response from the former Marseillais: “In any case, you have been on a mission from the start. It’s known, DZ Foot, since the beginning, it’s like that. You didn’t mention that I was one of the few coaches, maybe the second, to have won an African Cup of Nations “.
To which the incriminated journalist replied “thank you”. “I don’t care about your thanks because I’ve known you for six years,” Belmadi then engages. The question, I don’t even know what to answer to that. If it starts like that… It’s not even journalism. You have been on a mission from the start, I already told you that anyway. Next question. » This nervousness is not surprising given the context, but it is not new, according to a journalist we interviewed a few days ago as part of a portrait of the Algerian coach.
“He is always on the defensive, you can feel it in his dealings with the press. At no time does he give the impression of being calm, he always prefers to seek justifications for his poor performances. And he remains as divisive as ever, but it’s his temperament, his character, explained Mounir Ouassel, director of the media Le Score. Especially since the elimination of CAN 2021, he has fallen a little out of his clouds and he blames everything. The problem is that he transmits this irritation to his players, rather than remaining calm.”
Tense atmosphere at the players’ hotel
Tuesday evening, the annoyance spilled over to the supporters, who did not hesitate to pay a little visit to their coach and their team at the foot of the hotel, shouting “Belmadi, get out!” “. While the president of the Algerian Federation Walid Sadi tried to speak calmly with them, the tension rose further when the Fennecs bus arrived. While the players were escorted by a security service, supporters tried to enter the hotel, before being cleared by the soldiers present on site. Only one managed to slip through the cracks before being quickly kicked out by security, all in a most electric atmosphere.
If nothing is yet official, it is perhaps on these sad images that the story between the Fennecs and Djamel Belmadi will end, he who was carried as a hero after the victory at CAN 2019 and his support for the people during the Hirak, these massive demonstrations which ousted President Bouteflika the same year. According to the media El Marma, the hot-blooded coach would have been very marked by these post-elimination intrusion attempts. It is difficult to see how, in such a context, he could decide to go back for a spin, he who seems to have lost his miracle recipe of 2019. According to the After Foot columnist Walid Acherchour, Belmadi would have already announced his departure to his players. Love stories end badly, you know the song.