“We failed in our task”, Algeria misses its entry against Sierra Leone

The king tramples. Title-holder, Algeria was held in check by modest Sierra Leone (0-0), the first failure of a favorite at the African Cup of Nations (CAN), Tuesday in Douala. If Senegal, another favorite, came out the day before with a last-second penalty against Zimbabwe (1-0), Algeria stammered its football to the end and signed the first 0-0 of the competition.

The only small consolation, the “Greens” are content to extend their unbeaten streak to 35 games, two units from the record set by Italy (37). But Djamel Belmadi’s men, who have not shown much of a contender for victory against “Leone Stars” impeccably disciplined, will have to do a lot more not to lose against the Elephants of the Côte d ‘ Ivory.

Sierra Leone first dominated

John Keister’s Greens and Blues even dominated at first. In the first half, the only chances were Sierra Leonean, a pivot strike from Alhadji Kamara (5th) and a powerful header from Umaru Bangura (23rd). After the break, the Algerians came close to the worst when Alhadji believed to open the scoring, but he was offside (48th).

The African champions finally reacted to a pass from their leader Riyad Mahrez to Yacine Brahimi, countered by goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara (52nd), man of the match and author of seven saves in the end. The Algerians have indeed taken the ascendancy in the last half hour, but without success. Their best opportunity came from a strike from Sofiane Bendebka who sped towards the goal, diverted by Steven Caulker, the defender of Fenerbahçe (67th).

Guardian of the impassable Sierra Leone

“We have regrets,” Algerian coach Djamel Belmadi testified at the microphone of Bein Sport. We had the situations to score, more than enough, but we did not know how to be realistic. Today we failed in our task, we will correct what needs to be corrected and then come back against Guinea to win ”.

For its third participation in the CAN, Sierra Leone, qualified after a last heated match against Benin, polluted by a history of questionable positive tests, gets away with a historic result. Between 1994 and 1996, with her star at the time Mohamed Kallon, she had achieved only one success, against Burkina Faso. By falling into each other’s arms, the Sierra Leoneans celebrated this 0-0 against the African champion as a victory.


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