Algeria minister speaks in favor of Spanish coach Alcaraz

Algeria’s sports minister El-Hadi Ould Ali defended Spanish Lucas Alcaraz, saying he should continue his work as the national team’s coach.

The minister asked to give Alcaraz more time to achieve his goals with the Algerian players.

Ould Ali believes that the Spanish coach is able to improve the performance of the national team.

He said the Algerian players are young and talented. Those energies should be exploited, he told reporters in Constantine on Thursday.

This comes following calls to dismiss Alcaraz because of negative results and Algeria’s failure to reach the World Cup Russia finals 2018. 

The minister supports the president of the Algerian Football Federation Khireddine Zatchi who was exposed to anger amid Algeria’s fans.

Algeria will not play any official match until the end of March 2018. A game against Gambia is scheduled as part of the second round of the African Cup of Nations qualifiers 2019. Nine months are seen sufficient to make changes to the team’s technical staff. Two matches against Cameroon and Nigeria will be played in October and November respectively which are almost friendly.

Earlier in April, Zatchi signed a contract with Alcaraz, 51, to train the Algerian national team until the end of the African Cup of Nations 2019.