National Team: Year In Review 2005

[TonyStarks]

The national team had by far its worst year since its creation. The team managed to win just 2 games: 3-0 friendly at home against Burkina Faso and a 1-0 win against Rwanada at home in the qualifiers. The team also lost 3 games: 5-2 at home against Nigeria in the qualifiers, 3-0 against Mali in a friendly in France and finally 2-1 in a qualifier against Angola on the road. The 2 team also drew 2 games, 2-2 against Zimbabwe in a qualifier in Oran and 0-0 on the road against Gabon. More importantly, however, is the fact that the team failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations for the first time since 1978. In 7 games, the team scored just 9 goals and let in 15 goals. The teams top scorer this year was CS Sedan's Mansour Boutabout who found the net 3 times.

Algeria 3-0 Burkina Faso: Algeria got off to a blazing start in the new year with a 3-0 victory in a friendly against Burkina Faso. The game was played in front of a small crowd in 5 Juillet stadium in Alger on a field in poor condition. Rafik Saifi got two first half goals to get the crowd on its feet. Daoud Sofiane sealed the game in the second half with a well placed header.

Algeria 1-0 Rwanada: The team looked to build on their previous win in a crucial qualifier against Rwanda in Ahmed Zabana stadium in Oran. The game was played in front of a capacity crowd and the fans were not dissappointed. Mansour Boutabout scored the games only goal in the second half when he collected a pass from Nadir Belhadj. The win put Algeria back in the race to qualify for the African Cup.

Angola 2-1 Algeria: Coming off 2 consecutive wins, Algeria's chances hinged on this trip to Luanda, Angola. Both teams created a number of opportunities in the first half but neither team could break the deadlock. In the second half, Angola jumped to a quick start, scoring 2 goals in the first 12 minutes. After a couple of changes, Algeria struck back through Mansour Boutabout after tremendous work by Hamza Yacef. The score stayed that way and Algeria were in serious danger of missing the African Cup.

Algeria 0-3 Mali: Algeria prepared for their next game with a friendly against Mali in the French port city of Arles. Algerian expectations were high, especially with Borussia Dortmund's Ahmed Madouni making his first appearance for Algeria. However, the Malian side made up mostly of reserve players managed to get 3 goals past the Algerian team.

Algeria 2-2 Zimbabwe: Algeria's last chance to qualify for the African Cup lay in this game and that team came out determined not to throw it away. The stage was set in Ahmed Zabana stadium as thousands came out to cheer the home team. In the 17th minute, Nice defender Anther Yahia scored his first ever goal for the Algerian team, a header off a corner kick. Zimbabwe evened things out in the 33rd minute and the teams went in tied at the half. Algeria once again took the lead, this time thanks to local hero Daoud Sofiane. Algeria seemed destined for the win but Peter Ndolvu's 87th minute equalizer silenced the crowd. The 2-2 scoreline meant that the Algerian team was officially eliminated from next years African Cup.

Algeria 2-5 Nigeria: Two more games still remained for the Algerian side. The Nigerians were determined to win in hopes of qualifying for the World cup, in a game that had little implication for the Algerian side. It was visible in the first half as Nigeria took a 2-0 lead into the intermissino with goals from Martins and Utaka. However, the Algerians came out strong in the second and levelled the score within 13 minute with goals from Hamza Yacef and Mansour Boutabout. With 10 minutes left, it seems the Algerians would end the campaign on a honorable note. However, that all changed when Obodo scored in the 81st minute. Martins added in another 2 at the end of regulation to give Nigeria a lop-sided victory.

Gabon 0-0 Algeria: In the last game of the campaign, Algeria fielded a mostly local team with a lot of new faces including the likes of Hadj Aissa and Hocine Metref. Both teams had nothing to gain from the game and it was not even televised. Only news from the game it that the final score ended 0-0.

[La-Casbah_com]

why are you doing this tony? its bad enough african nations is around the corner with no algeria, now u want to remind us how crap we are.

[Lotfi-]

Its so painful to hear about the African cup of nations with out Algeria…
Tony am seeing a 3arfa this weekend to erase my memories about our national team, I think I should book you in aswell

[TonyStarks]

I'll stick by the team through thick and thin, so that when we're back on top I can tell the world that I was there when we lost to Gabon 3-0 at home!

[Nordino]

Great post again Tony. I really didn't know that Algeria had two consecutive wins in the beginning of the qualifiers. It is a shame that we didn't beat teams like Gabon and Rwanda (away). Absolutely crap. How could we fail to do that? Teams like MCA and USMA are as I understand of top African class. Why don't use their players? The can't be worse than Gabon's league players if they are the better side in club connexion.

I have some new questions:

- How many are actually watching Algeria's matches, and why do they change venues in front of every game?

- What are the ticket prices for clubs and national team?

- Who has most fans in Algeria? I saw highlights from the Algiers derby and it was clear that most of the spectators cheered for MCA when they scored.

[Nordino]

200 dinars is very cheap. Isn't that just above €2? Here in Norway it costs nearly €13 to watch a second division match (3rd level) :S

Impressive that the attendance was 90,000 between USMA and MCA. But I thought USMA played on the artificial grass field below Notre Dame? My family lives in the Notre Dame area and I used to watch the beautiful outlook every evening when I was there in 1999.

[Nordino]

Very impressive!

I would love to watch this derby next season. When I was in Algeria in 1999, there were no matches during the summer because of the heat :/ When do the season start, and how many people are usually in MCA and USMA's matches? What about away fans? And how is the teams spread if we talk geographically? Is it any Saharean teams in the elite division?

Sorry for asking so much, but I am very interested in learning more about Algerian football