World Cup Team Profiles: Group C Algeria

Teams / Ari Last / 18 February 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Their play-off win over Egypt has put Algeria back on the footballing map, and here's a little more info about a side who will be hoping for a smoother World Cup existence than their journey to it...

Despite pipping a talented and experienced Egypt to a place at the World Cup, no one is giving Algeria much hope of making an impact. They're at [500.0] to win the tournament and are outsiders at [4.8] to qualify from Group C.

Nation: Algeria

Also known as...
'Les Fennecs'

Route to South Africa...
Algeria thought they were heading to the World Cup via automatic qualification when they trailed Egypt 1-0 going into the 96th minute of the final group match. This was before Egyptian legend Mohamed Aboutrika doubled the home side's lead, which meant that the two teams had finished on the same points, the same goal difference, the same head-to-head record and the same goals scored. It was a remarkable moment which led to riotous consequences on the streets, as well as the arrangement of a one off playoff between the two in Khartoum, which Algeria won 1-0.

World Cup Pedigree...
Algeria's last appearance in the World Cup was back in 1986, when they failed to make it out of a difficult group including Brazil and Spain. Their only other appearance was another early exit four years earlier, meaning they enter the 2010 tournament with not much experience to call upon.

They'll be relying on...
Their back-four keeping things tight. Centre-half Madjid Bougherra has been a star performer for Rangers this year and has recently been linked with a move to Barcelona. He along with Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth and play-off hero Antar Yahir are seen as the pillars of this Algerian side, and if performing well, their blend of power and pace should give Rabah Sadane's troops a solid foundation to build upon.

Something you may not have known is...
Back in the 1982 tournament, the Algerians were the victims of the infamous match-fixing scandal involving European neighbours West Germany and Austria. Having been beaten by the Algerians in the opening group game, West Germany, along with Austria, knew that a 1-0 German win in the their final group match would send both of them through at the expense of Algeria, who had played their final group game on the previous day.

Lo and behold, after the Germans scored early, the two sides played out the following 80 minutes by simply kicking the ball back to one another, and consequently they both progressed. Despite Algeria's protests, FIFA ruled that the result stood. However an outcome of the controversy was that from then on, all final group games would be played out simultaneously.

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