It’s already public knowledge that the Desert Foxes, Algeria will be without six key players when they face the Copper Bullets tomorrow at the National Heroes Stadium.
Manchester City star Riyadh Mahrez, Said Benrahma, Ramy Bensebaini, Ismael Bennacer, Sofiane Feghouli & Aissa Mandi did not travel for Thursday’s AFCON 2021 qualifier.
With those names out one could be fooled to think that the Djamel Belmadi coached outfit is a weakened side, but contrary to that belief they still have a very strong team that should be taken seriously.
Chipolopolo Boys gaffer Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic is very much alive to this fact and says the team will not look at the name of the player but take the whole team very seriously as they have a huge pool of talented players.
“Those players that are not present we regret that they are not around but whether his name is Mahrez or Ghezzal, that is the best assister in Turkish League, Whether his name is Benrahma or Belaili the player that scored the winning goal in Botswana it’s not important, They have a 54 match squad and have brought 23 players who are the best. The quality and talent they have will push them to come here and increase their record however we have a different plan to go where we were once. We respect them when they have the ball and when we have it we show that this is our home and show them a ‘welcome to hell’ scenario football-wise,” he said.
Olympique Lyon forward Islam Slimani is available for tomorrow’s encounter and given the 32 year old’s experience and track record he is one player that the Chipolopolo defense should keep an eye on.
Another player to look out for is winger Rachid Ghezzal who has been in scintillating form for Besiktas JK in the Turkish League with 13 assists in 21 matches.
But the most overlooked player who may be the biggest threat to Chipolopolo in the current squad is Qatar Stars League side Al Sadd’s 29 year old lanky forward, Baghdad Bounedjah.
He has been involved in 27 goals on just 16 appearances for Al Sadd so far this season but it’s his Algeria national team record that is even more impressive.
The former ES Sahel player has netted 17 goals and contributed six assists in just 38 appearances for the Desert Foxes. He is the 8th all-time top goalscorer in the history of the Algerian National team.
In the current squad of active players only Islam Slimani (30 goals on 69 caps), Hillal Soudani (23 in 50 caps) and Riyadh Mahrez (18 in 61 caps ) have scored more goals than Baghdad Bounedjah who has been directly involved in 23 goals in just 2,130 minutes.
The Al Sadd forward scored a brace as the Desert Foxes beat Zambia 5-0 in the first round of these qualifiers.
Bounedjah also scored the only goal of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final against Senegal to give Algeria its 2nd AFCON trophy.
The match against Algeria will be played on Thursday at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka at 21:00hours.
Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic’s side will wrap up the qualifiers with an away fixture against Zimbabwe on Monday next week.
Good analysis we should not be fooled here.they want to expose our game plan.11 against 11 Chipolopolo did it and they will.remember Zambia play good football with a strong aponent with good preproduction