National Team Coach Madjer Unveils List of Called Up Players Who Will Face Tanzania and Iran

Eleven players in the League 1 Mobilis national football championship are on the list of 24 elements making up the Algerian football squad in anticipation of the two friendly matches against Tanzania, on March 22nd at the stadium of July 5th in Algiers (18:00) and later on Iran on March 27th in the city of Graz, Austria (18:00), a first move by national team coach Rabah Madjer for several years, synonymous with a start of rehabilitation of the local players who have been much downgraded.

The latter include: Mohamed Naâmani (CR Belouizdad), Abdennour Belkheir (CS Constantine), Farid El-Mellali (Paradou AC), Essaid Belkalem (JS Kabylie), Mohamed Amine Abid (CS Constantine), Faouzi Chaouchi (MC Alger), Abdelkadir Salhi (CR Belouizdad ), Taoufik Moussaoui (Paradou AC), Mohamed Amine Abid (CS Constantine), Farid El-Mellali (Paradou AC), and Salim Boukhanchouche (JS Kabylie), finally hit the eye of the national team coach.

 “We have to trust the local player and to rehabilitate him, there will be no difference between local and professional,” Madjer insisted during his first briefing held shortly after his appointment, replacing the Spanish coach Lucas Alcaraz in October 2017.

By composing almost half of the squad called up to defend the national colors during these two friendlies, these 11 players selected by the national coach, give hope to the local players, long discouraged by the various coaches who have succeeded to the technical bench of the National football team and who often bet on those formed in the Old Continent (Europe).

In addition to these 11 local players, five foreign-based players trained in Algeria were selected for the two test matches versus Tanzania and Iran, namely Ramy Bensebaini (Stade Rennais / France), Baghdad Bounedjah (Al -Sadd / Qatar) and Zinédine Ferhat (Le Havre / France), Hilal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb / Croatia) and Islam Slimani (Newcastle / England). 

Goal-keeper Rais Mbolhi who plays now with Saudi Arabia’s club of Al Ittihad has been excluded by Rabah Madjer from this list of called up players.

The national football team will play another friendly match on June 7th 2018 in Lisbon against Portugal of mega star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, probably waiting for another friendly match against an opponent who remains to be designated.