Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi has spoken at length about his team's elimination from the group stage of the 2021 African Cup of Nations. The Algerian coach has found the culprits of their disappointment in Cameroon, between refereeing errors at the expense of his team, according to him, and many cases of Covid-19 within his squad.
Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi spoke at a press conference on Sunday about his team's elimination from the group stage of the last Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. With hindsight, the Algerian coach blamed the poor performance of his group to their "chaotic preparation" Before the tournament. "I was deprived of many players and staff during the preparation," said Djamel Belmadi, who still seems to regret the cancellation of the friendly against Gambia when he added: "We did everything we could to play this game.''
'' We never trained with a full squad," he continued. "We woke up every morning with the fear of discovering new cases of coronavirus in the squad. According to him, only five of his 28 players were spared from the virus. In other words, 23 Algerian players have caught the Covid-19 between the beginning of their gathering and the end of the AFCON.
Djamel Belmadi attacks the refereeing at the AFCON
Djamel Belmadi also spoke about the refereeing. In his eyes, Algeria has been one of the victims of referees during the competition in Cameroon. "Why were penalties for not very obvious faults whistled for some teams and not for Algeria, especially against Sierra Leone?
He also asked about the appointment of a Spanish-speaking referee from Guatemala for Algeria's match against Equatorial Guinea, a country that also speaks Spanish. "I don't understand how CAF brought in referees from South America. Have we seen African referees in charge of matches in the Copa America? Never!" said the Fennecs coach.
Algeria has a double header against Cameroon next March to produce the finalists from Africa in the 2022 FIFA World Cup competition.
