Recent months have witnessed intense movement by the Algerian Football Federation and the coach of the Desert Warriors, Djamel Belmadi, in persuading a group of brilliant players in and outside the French League to choose the Greens, despite their ability to represent France in the future.
The star of the French Lyon club, Hossam Aouar, officially announced his choice of the Algerian national team to represent him, rejecting the accusations against him that he had accepted the “Khidr” because he had lost hope that Didier Deschamps, the “Roosters” coach, would call him.
Awar said; He is still twenty-four years old, and if Algeria was a second choice for him, he would have taken such a decision if he was at least twenty-eight years old.
In addition to Aouar, Jamal Belmadi hopes to attract a new generation of young stars, who will start their journey with the “Greens” in the upcoming African Cup in Côte d’Ivoire this year, with the players of the golden generation who won the 2019 championship.
However, the bet on Belamadi’s new attractions will be in reaching the 2026 World Cup, especially since the chances of the teams increase with the increase in the number of participating countries from 32 to 48.
Post-Mahrez generation
In the next World Cup, which will be organized by three countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico), most of the players of the golden generation that achieved “Cannes 2019” will be retired from the international arena, at the very least.
With the exception of Ismail Bennacer, Youssef Attal and Ramy Bensbaini, the main team of Algeria is over the age of thirty.
In the event that the captain of the national team, and his first star, Riyad Mahrez, maintains his level, he will be 35 years old in the next World Cup, which prompted Belamadi to try to attract attackers and playmakers of Algerian origin.
Coach Djamel Belmadi hopes to write his name in the history of Algerian football again, and to erase the disaster of the World Cup qualifiers in Qatar 2022 at the hands of Cameroon.
Promising names
During the past weeks, the left-back of the English club Wolverhampton, Rayan Ait Nouri, in addition to the French Nantes full-back Joan Hajjam, the winger of the French club Nice, Badr Eddine Bouanani, and the Toulouse midfielder Fares Chaibi, agreed to represent the “Desert Warriors”.
The four stars appeared in the team’s last two matches in the African Cup qualifiers, to be the first two “migratory birds” to join.
In addition to Aouar, Nuri, Bouanani, Hijam, and Chaibi, Algerian media say; Lyon stars Rayan Sharqi and Nice Amin Gweri, both of whom play in the offensive line, are on their way to agree to represent the “Khidr”.
It is noteworthy that the new players who expressed their desire to represent Algeria are only 21 years old, with the exception of Aouar (24 years).
The new group was preceded by a few players who preferred the desert warriors to other teams, such as defender Ahmed Touba, who was born and raised in France, and moved to Belgium for many years, during which he represented the national team in its Sunni categories, before choosing Algeria later in 2021, at the age of 22.
Mehdi Laris, who was born in France and grew up in the Sunni groups of Italian clubs, also chose to represent Algeria at the end of last year, as well as Feyenoord midfielder Ramez Zerrouki, whose desire to represent the Greens early on was at the expense of the Netherlands.
In the past of the godfather
Coach Djamel Belmadi, who enjoys the confidence of the Algerian Football Federation, is considered the godfather of polarizing dual nationals, especially when it comes to the upcoming “Khidr” jewel, Badreddine Bouanani.
According to the media, Belmadi watched Bouanani closely during the Mediterranean Games, when he starred with France last year in the championship held in Algeria.
The newspaper reportedL’EquipeBelmadi communicated with Bouanani and his father, so that the latter and his son expressed an unbridled desire to represent the 19-year-old, his country of parents and grandparents.
The Algerian media also considers that Belamadi contributed greatly to persuading most of the dual nationals who recently represented the “Greens” to leave France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Greater guarantee of play
Other than these data, among the motives that make players with dual nationalities think about representing Algeria is the less competitiveness compared to France in particular.
Since its victory in the 2018 World Cup, the French national team has a group of distinguished players, whose age does not exceed 25 years.
From goalkeeping, to defense and attack, passing through the midfield, France has several players in each position, which makes the competition higher for a place in the squad.
Algeria, in turn, aspires to reach a higher level of competitiveness. With the efforts of the local national team coach, Madjid Bougherra, Algeria showed high quality in the local player, as he reached the final of the last “Al-Shaan” championship, and he, accompanied by the local and professional team in the Arab leagues, achieved the Arab Cup in Qatar last year.
The brilliance of the local team or the reserve forced Belmadi to seek the help of some names, such as Sufyan bin Dabka, Muhammad bin Yato, and others, which means that choosing dual nationality to represent Algeria does not necessarily mean guaranteeing him a basic position.
France’s “racism” pays for more
The star, Hossam Awar, received racist comments and widespread campaigns of incitement against him for months, because of his beard, and these attacks multiplied after he chose to represent Algeria.
In addition to Aouar, the French Football Federation and coach Didier Deschamps dealt with star Karim Benzema of Algerian origin, causing a number of dual-national players to think slowly before rushing to France, as was the case in the past by players of Arab and African origins. .
The most recent of these campaigns, the French Football Federation announced that matches should not stop at the Maghrib call to prayer to allow Muslim players to eat breakfast.
Media said; What the French Football Federation has done gives an impression of the rift between it and the players with dual nationalities.
The journalist known for publishing leaks from within the federation and some clubs, Roman Molina, said; A group of double players of Algerian origin are seriously considering choosing the “Greens”, because of the racism of the French Federation.
Molina said; Not allowing the players to fast prompted them to make a decision to go to Algeria, adding that at least three players will announce their decision during the coming period.
And the former president of the federation, Noel Le Graet, had sparked controversy before his resignation, by disparaging French football legend Zinedine Zidane, before he apologized.
