The image of Djamel Belmadi in tears, kneeling on the pitch, alone sums up the distress of an inconsolable Algerian team. It must be said that the Fennecs believed in qualification after the equalizing goal signed by Ahmed Touba in the 118th minute of play. A few seconds from the end of this barrage, qualification for the World Cup was reaching out to them… But Cameroon, beaten in the first leg 1-0 and which had initially taken the lead thanks to Choupo-Moting (22nd), never abdicated and qualified after additional time following a goal from Karl Toko- Ekambi (1-2, 120th+5).
The supporters massed in a Mustapha-Tchaker Stadium in Blida where the Fennecs had never experienced the slightest setback (31 successes, 6 draws since 2002), went from a huge dream to a terrible nightmare. In just a few seconds, the jubilation turned into the total silence of a dumbfounded audience. Shocked.
“We have collapsed. We put our lives on hold for this match. For our country, our people. The sky has fallen on our heads. It’s football, it’s sport. But it’s our whole life, at the same time, ”explained Djamel Belmadi at a press conference. The coach of an Algerian team champion of Africa 2019, but pitifully eliminated during the last edition of the CAN, was betting everything on this World Cup. A dam ultimately fatal to their ambitions.
The Fennecs will have to recover
“I don’t know if we failed mentally. Ten seconds from a World Cup, it is surely a problem of concentration, of lucidity. (…) We were never put in danger, never dominated, except on set pieces and these ten seconds, ”he regretted.
“The house of cards is collapsing. Everyone is shot. We couldn’t see ourselves not going. What cruelty to end like this 10 seconds from the end”, insisted a Belmadi who can only recognize that it will be extremely complicated for his team to “recover” from this “bad scenario”. But whether with or without him in the future, he still wants to believe in better days for the Fennecs.
“You will have to get up. Algeria is a great nation. There are still great things to do, with or without me,” he concluded.