Algeria Coach Hallihodzic not keen to call up Bentaleb for 2014 World Cup
Algeria football team coach Vahid Hallihodzic seems loath to call up Tottenham’s midfielder Nabil Bentaleb for the 2014 World cup tournament in Brazil.
Coach Hallihodzic has reportedly said that he will scrap from the rolls Nabil Bentaleb if the latter doesn’t reply positively to his summons to travel to Algeria in order to play the friendly warm-up match between Algeria and Slovenia slated for March 5th at THE Tchaker stadium in Blida, 50 km from the capital Algiers.
However, Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb is ready to commit his international future to Algeria ahead of this summer’s World Cup, according to manifold reports.
Algerian media outlets vividly argue that the France-born 19-year-old will declare for his parents’ homeland and represent Algeria in Brazil.
The reports suggest that Bentaleb will play in Algeria’s friendly against Slovenia on March 5. He would still be able to change allegiance to France at that stage, but not if he went on to play a competitive game in the World Cup.
The article claims it is a matter of time before Bentaleb announces his decision after Algerian FA president Mohamed Raouraoua travelled to Paris and convinced his parents that he should play for Algeria.
Bentaleb has been a first-team regular at Spurs since Tim Sherwood became the manager, making his debut against Southampton in December.
But with just eight first-team games under his belt so far for the north Londoners, he is unlikely to get anywhere near the France squad at the moment.
That could make the prospect of a place at the World Cup with Algeria an enticing one for the young starlet.
Algeria are drawn in Group H for the tournament along with Belgium, Russia and South Korea. The bookies are expecting them to finish bottom of the group.