Thursday at 17:00 p.m in Luanda: Algeria-Mali : “Desert Foxes challenging Eagles…Saâdane wants the spirit of Omderman”

Algeria’s team will play on Thursday in Luanda stadium the second match in the African Cup of nations now hosted by Angola. The Desert Foxes will face Mali in an exciting match, according to specialists, because the two teams’ fate depend on the result of this decisive match, particularly for the Algerian team which must win to stay in the race.

• Players of the Algerian team did not show sadness and frustration during the training session following the match against Malawi, despite the bitter defeat, and they quickly forgot about it and returned to work and focus on the reforming some of the mistakes Saadane said they committed against Malawi, as he intended, in particular, the baseline which facilitated the task of Malawi’s strikers. Coach Saadane was keen to alleviate the exercise on the players in order to avoid severe stress caused by high temperature and excessive humidity in Luanda throughout the day.
• As stated by the coach Saadane and his assistant following the end of Malawi match, there was focus on bringing the team back to competition psychologically. Even there are professional players who can deal with these situations, Saadane wanted to talk to his players about the match against Mali and its importance, surpassing the effects of defeat in the first game. Now, it seems that the national technical staff has succeeded to bring back the players to the African Cup of Nations, thing that was confirmed by the atmosphere during the team’s training.
• Given the importance of the match against Mali, crucial for the Desert Foxes, coach Saadane is making some changes today. Without speaking about this matter, Saadane suggested changes in the human structure in anticipation to the match against Mali; it is very likely that Abdelmalek Ziaia will play as a striker along with Ghazzal, even if he is injured on the level of bottom foot. And as confirmed by the first official of the technical staff, Saadane wants to make a change in the way of playing and this means that he will use players able to cope with the new tactical data.
• Re-balance the Midfield… Lemouchia back to paly
• Saadane expected that the midfield will be the key of playing during the match against Mali, where the control is necessary. Importance of this sensitive site because of the potentialities of the competitor in this area, particularly for Mamado Diara (Real Madrid) and Seydou Keita (Barcelona), based on these data, Saadane decided to reconsider the composition of the central line which has shown a clear disintegration during the match against Malawi. Without a doubt, Saadane will ask ESS player Khaled Lemouchia to restore the balance of this line on which the team depends.
• Saadane is worried about the defence line, which showed a weak performance and played chaotically and anarchically, offering three goals to Malawi. The technical staff has worked on re-arranging the back line and asked players for dynamism and focus during the match against Mali. Despite coach Saadane was forced to change the binary central defence (Antar Yahia and Bougherra) by Ziani and Halliche, however, he still believes that the back line is able to face the attacks of the Malians if there is understanding and cooperation between the defenders, including the goal keeper who is also asked to guide them.
• Rabah Saadane did not change his speech when he asserted that the Desert Foxes were affected by the excessive heat and high humidity during Malawi’s match, as the players and technical staff expressed their satisfaction concerning the timing of the match against Mali (17:00 pm) because the weather will be good, thing which will put them in good mental and physical situation enabling them to show their good performance in the field.
• The match against Mali is very important for Algeria’s team and players because it will decide about their future in the competition. On the other hand, victory over Mali is a revival of hope to stay in the race to win the golden title. We must not forget that Algeria’s team is asked to defend reputation following qualification to the World Cup South Africa, and therefore it has no right to leave the arena before saying its last word.