After Cameroon, Senegal and Morocco, one of the other favorites for the final victory in this African Cup of Nations entered the competition on Tuesday, January 11. Defending champion, Algeria was hooked by Sierra Leone (0-0), while Nigeria made a very good impression against Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (1-0).
Algeria stumbles on Sierra Leone
“Today we failed in our task“. It is a somewhat irritated Djamel Belmadi who appeared in front of the press after his team’s draw against Sierra Leone (0-0) in the early afternoon on Tuesday. Holders of the title after their victory during CAN 2019, the Fennecs started their competition with a disappointing match, without ever finding the net, despite enormous situations in the second period. The fault in particular to Mohamed Camara, the goalkeeper of Sierra Leone, huge and very moved when receiving the trophy for best player of the match.
# CAN2021
In tears, Mohamed Kamara receives the man of the match trophy!#ALGSIA pic.twitter.com/5bNgQI7y95– beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) January 11, 2022
“There is a feeling of regret. We wanted to start this competition well, so with a victory. We had the situations to score, more than enough. We did not know how to be realistic this afternoon“, underlined Djamel Belmadi. His team will have to react on Sunday against Equatorial Guinea, to assume its status as a huge favorite in this CAN 2022. Algeria has in any case missed its introduction.
Nigeria convincing against Egypt of Salah
This is not the case with the Super Eagles. Nigeria won at the end of the afternoon against Egypt (1-0) after a collectively controlled meeting. So much so that after three days of competition, the Nigerian selection is the one that made the best impression. In the absence of the former Lille Victor Osimhen, still injured, it was Kelechi Iheanacho who scored the only goal of the game on a beautiful sequence in the area.
END OF GAME! ⏰#TeamNigeria 1-0 #TeamEgypt
The “Super Eagles” start their journey with a victory against Egypt. ✅# TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | # CAN2021 | #NGAEGY pic.twitter.com/eqkHtAFwM7
– # TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 – FR (@caf_online_FR) January 11, 2022
Worn by its captain Mohamed Salah, “best player in the worldEgypt was disappointing, according to Pharaohs coach Carlos Queiroz. The Liverpool winger gave himself a chance late in the game but did not prevent his side from defeating. The Pharaohs will try to take their first points in the competition against Guinea-Bissau on Saturday, on the second day of the group stage.