Algeria World Cup 2010 Team

Nicknamed “Les Fennecs” (The Desert foxes), the Algerian National Football team are finally back in the FIFA World Cup After failing to qualify for the World Cup the last 24 years. After appearing at the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico, Algeria won the CAF African Cup of Nations. But the long hiatus from the top 32 teams and a list of injured and recovering players make Algeria’s line-up look a bit weak compared to the other teams, nevertheless Algeria has proved to be a force to reckon with among the African nations.

 

Algeria won all six of their home games during the qualifying rounds for the FIFA World Cup. They lost three games on their away matches, drew one and won the remaining game. This was enough to give them a slender lead over Senegal, Liberia and Gambia in the first qualifying group. In the second group, they ended up on equal grounds with Egypt, thus enforcing a tie-breaker.

 

Antar Yahia, Madjid Bougherra, Nadir Belhadj and goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui are the defensive pillars that hold the Algerian fortress together. Captain Yazid Mansouri holds the midfield along with Karim Ziani and Khaled Lemmouchia for support. The front line of the Algerian National team still has to be strengthened though striker Karim Matmour has been proving his skills on the right wing.

 

Coached by Rabah Saadane, the Algerian team finally gets an opportunity to play in the World Cup finals after 24 long years. Saadane has been coaching various youth teams for a long time and was part of the coaching staff when Algeria disputed the FIFA World Cup in Spain.

The FIFA World Cup at South Africa will mark the third time Algeria plays in the Football World Cup final tournament and this time they will be aiming to graduate from the group stage for the first time.

 

 

The Pre-World Cup list of players for Algeria is given below.