Petkovic Needs to “Invent” a New Defence for the Fennecs

Fortunately for the Fennecs, their two decisive matches in June, to pave the way to the 2026 World Cup, are not complicated, and they can be handled, even with a weak defence, in a comfortable manner, as the most difficult of the two matches will be hosted at Nelson Mandela Stadium against Guinea, which will be based on the Algerian attack and not on defence.

The attack may decide in favour of the Fennecs, in the same way, that the best way to defend is to attack, meaning that the Guineans’ first concern will be defending their goal. The second match away from home, which may take place in Marrakech, Morocco, will be against a modest offensive team, which Uganda, as its attack consists of intermediate-level players, the best of them are active in Egypt and the Czech Republic and play rarely, which means that we will not face a difficult test that requires an armada of players and an iron defence.

The absence of defender Ramy Bensebaini was confirmed due to a serious injury, and he became a key piece in the team, whenever he was absent, major problems occurred in the defence. He missed the return match against Cameroon in the deciding match, so the Fennecs lost their World Cup dream, and he was absent against Mauritania in the last AFCON in Ivory Coast, so the Belmadi players lost and left the competition, and he missed the last match against South Africa, so the team came out with a full hat-trick against it, and all the players who were placed in the middle of the defence as substitutes, confirmed their limited performance, from Mohamed Tougai to Ahmed Touba and ending with the player Mohamed Amine Madani.

However, coach Petkovic is required to create quick and tailored football innovations to create a strong defence that befits the value of the Algerian attack, as Djamel Belmadi did, before the African Cup finals in Egypt, where in seven matches against African powers, M’Bolhi only conceded two goals, one of them from a penalty kick, that is why no player or team threatened M’Bolhi, who found an iron defence around him with the quintet of Mandi, Belamri, Bensebaini, Atal, and then Zeffane, which is the most important technical achievement in Djamel Belmadi’s period with the Fennecs.

Relying on a local defence may be a risk that will evaporate all the dreams, and Petkovic is not required to do so. By replacing Rami Bensebaini he should look abroad or in the Algerian league, but rather rebuild the defensive system that received a complete five-point win in two matches inside Algeria, before losing one of its most important elements, Rami Bensebaini, so that the situation would get worse than it is now.