2012 AFCON Qualifying Preview: Algeria - Tanzania

Kick-off: Friday, September 3, 2010. 22:00 CET. Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida

Fennecs Under Pressure

The 2010 World Cup participants are not in good shape. In fact, ever since they beat Egypt in Sudan, it’s all been downhill for the Desert Foxes. Prior to their 2-1 loss to Gabon in a recent friendly, they had only scored one measly goal in their last seven games. The drought didn’t just affect their results but also has frustrated much of their fans who, to their credit, continue to turn up to home games in big numbers.

However, in their last match against the Panthers, the Algiers faithful booed their team and jeered their coach. Their patience is obviously wearing thin and the North Africans risk further alienating the public should they not convincingly defeat their visitors tomorrow.

It is against this stressful backdrop that the Greens must face an important test against the Taifa Stars squad. However, Rabah Saadane has pulled out his secret weapon which has worked so well in the past: The Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida.

Instead of returning to the 5th of July stadium in the capital, the tactician has decided that his side will be better off at the smaller venue where they won every game during their last qualifying campaign, one of the key factors that allowed them to fly to South Africa instead of rivals Egypt.

Turning Over A New Leaf

Tanzania may not have the most storied footballing history on the continent but, as the saying goes, on their day they can give a lot of teams plenty of problems. The country’s football stature isn’t matched by the people’s enthusiasm for the sport but more and more is being done at the grass roots level to achieve the desired long term improvement. However, at the moment, the stats say that they’ve only once qualified for the AFCON, and that was thirty years ago. Even their CECAFA achievements date back quite some time: They won the East African tournament both in 1974 and 1994.

Nevertheless, with Danish coach Jan Poulsen at the helm they are seeking to put all their past struggles behind them and qualify for the upcoming 2012 tournament, which won’t be an easy task considering they’ve been drawn in a group that includes far more experience countries such as Morocco and Algeria. Despite this, Poulsen believes that his team can pull off an upset.

“Even though the match will be tough, we’re confident and we’re hoping to come back with one point or maybe even three. On the field anything is possible. We’re here to pose problems for the Algerian team which admittedly remains a strong side. We’re playing without pressure,” he said.

FORM GUIDE

Algeria

August 11, 2010: Algeria 1-2 Gabon

June 23, 2010: USA 1-0 Algeria

June 18, 2010: England 0-0 Algeria

June 13, 2010: Algeria 0-1 Slovenia

June 5, 2010: Algeria 1-0 UAE

Tanzania

August 11, 2010: Tanzania 1-1 Kenya

June 7, 2010: Tanzania 1-5 Brazil

March 3, 2010: Tanzania 2-3 Uganda

January 4, 2010: Tanzania 0-1 Cote d’Ivoire

December, 2009: Rwanda 2-1 Tanzania

TEAM NEWS

Algeria

Rabah Saadane has given Charleroi’s Mohamed Chakouri his first call-up and has recalled Chadli Amri and Abdelmalek Ziaya to give his team some much needed extra firepower. Captain Antar Yahia is suspended due to the red card he received in his team’s final World Cup encounter against the United States. Medhi Lacen and Foued Kadir also miss out but due to injury.

Squad: Lounes Gaouaoui (USM Blida), Rais Mbolhi (Slavia Sofia), Mohamed Amine Zemmamouche (MC Alger), Mohamed Chakouri (Charleroi), Habib Bellaid (Eintracht Francfort), Madjid Bougherra (Glasgow Rangers), Rafik Halliche (Benfica), Abdelkader Laïfaoui (ES Setif), Carl Medjani (AC Ajaccio), Nadir Belhadj (Al-Sadd), Djamel Mesbah (Lecce),  Adlene Guedioura (Wolverhampton), Hassan Yebda (Benfica), Fouad Kadir (Valenciennes), Karim Ziani (VfL Wolfsburg), Chadli Amri (Kaiserslautern), Djamel Abdoun (FC Nantes), Ryad Boudebouz (FC Sochaux), Karim Matmour (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Rafik Djebbour (AEK Athens), Abdelkader Ghezzal (AS Bari), Abdelmalek Ziaya (Al-Ittihad)

Tanzania

Looking to rejuvenate the squad and build for the future, Poulsen has made the necessary but difficult choice to drop many players who have served the Taifa Stars faithfully in the past. The most notable one to be omitted was Yanga striker Jerson Tegete. Others include midfielders Abdulhalim Humoud and Athumani Idd, defenders Juma Jabu and Kelvin Yondan, attacking midfielder Uhuru Selemani and injured Simba ‘keeper Juma Kaseja.

Squad: Juma Kaseja (Simba), Shabani Kado (Mtibwa) and Jackson Chove (Azam FC),  Shadrack Nsajigwa, Nadir Haroub, Stephano Mwasika (Young Africans), Salum Kanoni, Juma Jabu, Kelvin Yondani (Simba), Aggrey Morris, Erasto Nyoni (Azam), Jabir Azizi, Selemani Kassim (Azam) Athumani Iddi 'Chuji', Nurdin Bakari, Abdi Kassim (Young Africans), Abdulhalim Humoud, Uhuru Selemani (Simba), Idrisa Rajabu (Sofapaka), Danny Mrwanda (DT Long), Nizar Khalfan (Vancouver Whitecaps), John Bocco, Mrisho Ngasa (Azam), Mussa Hassan Mgosi (Simba), Jerry Tegete (Young Africans)

PREDICTION

Even though Tanzania are apparently confident they can get a result in Blida after seeing Gabon down their opponents earlier this month, the fact remains that they are not nearly as experienced as the Panthers who performed admirably in the 2010 AFCON. The situation with Fennecs fans means that Algeria essentially have their backs against the wall and that is when they are most dangerous. Plus they know that a misstep this early is bad news considering they still have to face Morocco in a home and away Arab derby that is as unpredictable as it is exciting. All things considered, they’ll handle business tomorrow.

Algeria 2-0 Tanzania

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