Mansouri, Ghezzal and Saïfi excluded from Algeria squad

Sources from the Algerian Football Federation told Echorouk that Mr. Mohamed Raouraoua in concertation with national team coach Rabah Saâdane has decided to exclude for good Abdelkader Ghezzal, Rafik Saïfi and Yazid Mansouri from the Algeria line-up in expectation of the future regional and international fixtures.

• The same sources said that the chairman of the Algerian football federation was bitterly angry at the misconduct of Ghezzal and Mansouri during the Greens’ training camp in Switzerland and Germany and especially during the World cup contest in South Africa.
• According to the same sources, striker Ghezzal and midfielder Mansouri grossly misbehaved and made a big fuss within the national line-up after the national coach’s sovereign decision to keep them on the substitute bench.
• Raouraoua had to intervene firmly to clear the air and to threaten these two players with stringent sanctions if they did not strictly abide by the team’s internal regulations for fear of a damaging destabilization of the whole team.
• As far as striker Rafik Saïfi is concerned, his exclusion from the national squad was not motivated by disciplinary reasons as he had accepted the coach’s decisions with no expostulations.
• His eviction is rather motivated by his age as he is now 35 years old and at the end of his long and fruitful football career.
•