They already saw each other there. After a first leg victory in Cameroon (0-1) and an equalizer which seemed decisive in the 118th minute, Algeria was there on Tuesday 29 March. The scenario was laborious, stressful, but ultimately ideal. And above all, he assured Algeria of its place at the next World Cup, next December in Qatar after having missed the Russian edition four years ago. What could be more logical finally when one evolves in the fortress of the Mustapha-Tchaker stadium in Blida, where Algeria has never experienced defeat. The latter finally arrived at the worst of times, ten seconds from the end of this match and therefore from a qualification, against Cameroon (1-2)
“We collapsed. We put our lives on hold for this match. For our country, our peoplelaunched the Algerian coach, Djamel Belmadi, at a press conference. The sky has fallen on our heads. It’s football, it’s sport. But it’s our whole life, at the same time”.
“We were never put in danger, never dominated, except on set pieces and those ten seconds.”
Djamel Belmadiat a press conference
This match, a whole people was waiting for it. After the series of 35 games of invincibility, the early elimination of the last African Cup of Nations had left regrets and a desire for revenge on the other side of the Mediterranean. To clear the affront and see Qatar, then remained a last step in the form of this double confrontation against Cameroon. In the first leg, the victory acquired in Limbé had launched the Algerians perfectly. In a strong position at kick-off, the Fennecs quickly lost their luster by conceding the opener in the 22nd minute of play on a hand ball by their goalkeeper, Raïs M’Bolhi. Thereafter, they offered themselves a festival of missed opportunities, obtaining many dangerous actions without ever concluding.
And when the scorers managed to shake the nets, it was ultimately the referee who twice refused goals. Finally, it was in the 118th minute, at the end of extra time, that Ahmed Touba then thought of sending his country to Qatar, with an angry head. Intense joy… for a few seconds. “I don’t know if we failed mentally. Ten seconds from a World Cup, it’s surely a problem of concentration, of lucidity”added the Algerian technician.
From the end of the match, in Algeria, the main media agreed to throw part of the fault on the referee of the meeting, the Gambian Bakary Papa Gassama. “Belmadi players failed to secure a seat at the 2022 World Cup, even though they did everything in their power, and competed with Cameroon and the Gambian referee,” considers one of the most important newspapers in the country, Echorouk, in its match report.
The #IndomitableLions at the Qatari rendezvous. ❤️#Algeria 1️⃣➖2️⃣ #Cameroon#FIFAWC2022Q | #ALGCMR | #GoLions
|#LetsRoarTogether | #AllezLesLions pic.twitter.com/PD7roop0Ba— The Official Indomitable Lions (@LIndomptables) March 29, 2022
Same story in the newspaper El Khabar: “The Belmadi lions dominated most of the confrontation and created several chances, but luck and some defensive failures, in addition to the Gambian referee Gassama, contributed to losing the dream of participating in the FIFA Cup. world for the fifth time”.
The French-speaking media, the Gazette du Fennec, is sharper, believing that “Tonight (Tuesday) the national team faced Cameroon but also a referee. The latter did not always make fair decisions. Indeed the Gambian Bakary Gassama is one of the factors which precipitated the ‘elimination of the Greens from the 2022 World Cup’.
As in 2018, the Fennecs will not participate in the World Cup and will have to wait four more years to relive the emotions of this competition. In 2014, in Brazil, they had reached the round of 16, their best result in history. It is also their last participation.