A disappointing opening loss to Slovenia has Algeria desperate to make amends and Fabio Capello’s team are in the firing line Twenty-four years is an awfully long time to wait for a damp squib. For more than two decades the football-crazy people of Algeria craved another qualification for the World Cup and, once the passage to South Africa was booked, a fever of anticipation spread across virtually the whole country. All of which made for a monumental anticlimax when the Desert Foxes marked their grand return to the global stage last Sunday by slumping to a sorry 1-0 defeat to Slovenia. Against England tomorrow the Algerian team mean to make amends. “It was very disappointing, we were full of regrets after the game,” the Algeria midfielder Karim Matmour says, explaining that what made the defeat by Slovenia all the more agonising was the realisation that the Europeans were eminently beatable. “It was clear that we had a great chance to get off to a good start and we missed the opportunity. But we’ve lifted our heads up and we’ll be 200% determined to atone for that against the English.” • Follow the Guardian’s World Cup team on Twitter • Sign up to play our great Fantasy Football game • Stats centre: Get the lowdown on every player • The latest team-by-team news, features and more In the unlikely event of such talk tormenting Fabio Capello, England’s manager could soothe himself by rewatching Slovenia’s win – or, indeed, any of Algeria’s recent matches – because recently Rabah Saâdane’s team have seemed impotent. In the run-up to the World Cup they scored once in five games – a penalty against the United Arab Emirates – and there was no trace of their attack having grown teeth against Slovenia, when in the whole match they mustered a mere two shots on target. They looked negative but Matmour said it was not a lack of will that constrained them but the lack of an effective way. “We need to refine the way we move forward,” says the 24-year-old, who earns his living at Borussia Mönchengladbach. “The linkages between midfield and attack were where we had the most difficulty. We need to improve.” Algeria’s plan for improving is counterintuitive. Seeking to end a goal drought by playing with no recognised strikers seems strange but that is what they are likely to do against England. Matmour will probably be the man who shifts from midfield to the unfamiliar role of centre-forward. For most of this week he has been rehearsing the role in training, with the 20-year-old Sochaux midfielder Ryad Boudebouz hinting that he may win only his third cap against England by slotting into Matmour’s usual berth on the right-hand side of midfield. “We have tried a few formats in training but, yes, that system is a possibility,” Matmour says cagily. In truth, the manager Saâdane has little alternative but to try such tinkering. The striker who started against Slovenia, Rafik Djebbour, showed that he is so far out of form he may never find his way back while the player who came on for him as a substitute in that match, Abdelkader Ghezzal, got sent off within 15 minutes and will be suspended tomorrow. The only other striker in the squad is the country’s top scorer, Rafik Saïfi, but after an injury-plagued season the 35-year-old is unlikely to start. Matmour is generally viewed as more of a creator than a scorer – he has struck just two goals in his 23 appearances for his country – but the reason he seems set to start up front tomorrow is that Saâdane believes his speed will trouble John Terry and Jamie Carragher. Matmour said he has not asked his Portsmouth-based team-mate, Nadir Belhadj, about any vulnerabilities in the England team that might be exploited because “we all know the English players already because they play for the biggest clubs in the world and we watch them on television every week”. But Belhadj sounds as if he may have offered some tips anyway. The flying left-back did, after all, tell the Algerian magazine Le Buteur this week that “England’s weakness is their defence. It is easy to penetrate.” Matmour is more diplomatic but agrees that England have imperfections. “Although they are deservedly one of the favourites for the tournament and have brilliant individuals in every position, sometimes great individuals don’t make for a great team,” he says. “Some of them don’t seem to be in form and the team maybe lacks cohesion. We respect them, but we know we can do something against them.” Matmour suggests England’s manager may have erred in his preparation, notably by not publicly committing to Robert Green following the goalkeeper’s gaffe against the USA. Green’s Algerian counterpart, Faouzi Chaouchi, blundered against Slovenia but Saâdane quickly announced that there would be no change in goal against England. The coach could, though, be forced into an alteration because Chaouchi has a knee injury which caused him to miss training yesterday. Saâdane is in the habit of dispelling doubts from the minds of outfield players by revealing his starting line-up two days before matches. “Psychologically you need that time to prepare. I wouldn’t like having to wait until the last minute to find out whether I’m playing.” Plainly Matmour does not like doubt. That is why he scoffs at suggestions that Algeria might play for a draw against England in the hope of beating the USA in their last game and, with other results helping them, reaching the second round with four points. “That’s all too complicated,” he snorts. “The England match is a final for us. We’ll be aiming for victory.” • The PUMA Africa Unity kit is the official third strip of Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Sales of the shirt raise money for biodiversity causes in Africa Algeria World Cup 2010 Group C World Cup 2010 Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk
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World Cup 2010: Algeria aiming to vent their frustrations on England
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