Leekens: “I am behind the drafting of list of 23 capped players and not Raouraoua”

National football head coach George Leekens flatly denied rumors that Mohamed Raouraoua, the FAF chief, was reportedly behind the selection of the final list of the 23 capped players of the national squad due to compete in the upcoming 2017 African Cup of Nations to be hosted by Gabon by mid January.

George Leekens made such a statement Monday, during a press conference held at the 5th of July Olympic stadium located on the heights of Algiers, stressing that the selected Greens’ line-up was his own making.

He added that throughout his coaching career, he did not allow others to interfere in his own affairs, underlining that if someone else poked his nose into his private technical work as head coach, he would automatically throw in the towel and quit his job, as he put it.

Furthermore, George Leekens emphasized that his relationship with FAF President Mohamed Raouraoua is very good, while waxing very optimistic about the winning chances of the Greens of Algeria in the forthcoming AFCON contest in view of their high-profile and seasoned line-up.

As a recall, Algeria was drawn in a rather difficult first-round group including Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Senegal but the “Greens” are widely tipped by sports commentators to carry the day given their high potential.