Algeria is eliminated in the first round of the African Cup for the second consecutive time, this time by Mauritania (1-0), which won this Tuesday in Bouaké the first victory in its history in the competition and will see the round of 16.
In the other Group D match, Angola (7/9) also reached the round of 16 by beating Burkina Faso (4/9), also qualified, 2-0 in Yamoussoukro.
Another hiccup for the Riyad Mahrez generation, coached for five and a half years by Djamel Belmadi. The 2019 African champions had already finished last in their group at CAN 2022, and missed the World Cup for a few seconds in the play-offs against Cameroon.
If Mauritania is assured of a best third place with two teams lower ranked than it, Ivory Coast and Ghana, the failure is terrible for Algeria, with a transparent Mahrez in the first two matches , against Angola (1-1) and Burkina Faso (2-2), and on the bench this Tuesday.
Belmadi, who always defended him in Ivory Coast, brought him on during the break, but in vain.
The push of Greens did not allow an equalizer, as in the last minutes against Burkina Faso. Youcef Belaïli, for example, was unable to take advantage of an outing far from his goal by the excellent goalkeeper Babacar Niasse (66′).
Amir Abdou does the Comoros again
But the real hero of Mourabitounes His name is Yaly Dellahi, he is captain, defender, and plays in Iraq for Al-Hedood. It was he who scored the goal that we will tell children about for a long time in Nouakchott or Nouadhibou. Taking advantage of a blocked shot diverted to his feet by Mohamed Tougai, he deceived Anthony Mandrea (37′).
The Caen goalkeeper, however, delayed the deadline for a long time against Souleymane Anne (14′), Aboubakary Koita “AK47” (45’+3) or even a header from Dellahi (49′) or Aboubakar Kamara (82′).
Car les Mourabitounes deserved their success. They learned the lessons of their previous good matches, where they were countered after being tied with Burkina Faso (1-0) and Angola (3-2).
This time they countered intelligently, and defended fiercely, without lapses in concentration.
Their coach Amir Abdou did it again in 2022 with the Comoros, snatching qualification in the last match after two initial defeats.
His team brought down Ghana (3-2), he added another African giant to his list of achievements.
The Marseillais was scared until the end, due to Niasse’s hand fault alone (90’+5), and suffered from his team missing knockout balls by AK47 (55′) after a series of dribbles or a shot from Papa Ibnou Ba on the bar (85′).
But his whole group exploded with joy at the final whistle, to the great joy of the Ivorian public who had sided with his team.
2024-01-24 01:48:29
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