Sports
Soccer: Algeria and Ireland will play a friendly
Feb 14th
Algeria will play the Republic of Ireland in an international friendly in Dublin on 29 May.
The Desert Foxes will be using the game as part of their build up to the World Cup in South Africa, which kicks off two weeks later.
Image via Wikipedia
Rabah Saadane’s squad are due to meet on 20 May for a training camp at the Italian Football Association’s technical centre in Florence. More >
Soccer: Its not over until its over
Jan 24th
When Cote De Ivory scored their second goal at 89 minute everyone in the room thought Algeria lost their quarterfinal match of the African Cup of Nations 2010. But wait a moment the players in the ground did not lose their spirit and made a stunning come back by scoring an equalizer in the second minute of the overage time. This shows the fighting spirit of this team and their courage never to give up until the final whistle.
Well done Algeria.
1 2 3 viva le Algerie.
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Algeria must beat Slovenia to reach second round: Zidane
Dec 24th
French Algerian Zidane, who captained French soccer team in 2006
According to Zinedine Zidane, the Algerian national team could make the second round at next summer’s World Cup in South Africa but will have to go through Slovenia to make it possible.
“If they beat Slovenia, yes [they can progress]. After that it’s going to be England and then it could come down to the United States. There are lots of quality players. A World Cup transcends one player. In 2006, I was done at Real Madrid but I realized an enormous World Cup,” he explained while speaking to France Football.
Meanwhile, the former Real Madrid star was asked if he would be willing to offer a helping hand to the team if he was invited by their coach, Rabah Saadane, and his response was rather intriguing. More >
Algeria-Egypt – brothers again
Dec 17th
On the surface, Egyptian and Algerian relations appear to be improving after the disastrous incidents surrounding the Egypt-Algeria soccer matches, reports Dina Ezzat at Al-Ahram Weekly.
Throughout the month of November, qualifying soccer matches between Egypt and Algeria have been tarnished with violent incidents as the two Arab countries competed for a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. While the Egyptian team prevailed in Cairo, Algeria was the ultimate victor in Khartoum, Sudan.
Aggressive rhetoric preceded the games, as both Egyptians and Algerians engaged in vicious comments through the media. “For weeks, Egyptian and Algerian fans engaged in cyberwars, taunting each other in online forums, trading doctored team photos, provocative homemade songs, and YouTube videos,” writes Ursula Lindsey for Foreign Policy.
Lindsey recounts an inflammatory comment by Amr Adeeb, anchor of “Al-Qahira Al-Youm (Cairo Today).” The night before the match in Cairo, Adeeb stated, “What annoys me is the way the Algerians talk … this provocation, this conceit … Why do the Algerians hate us so much? We supported them during their million-martyr revolution; we sent them teachers to teach them Arabic.”
Algerians also engaged in the taunting, using Egypt’s controversial relationship with Israel to degrade their opponent. Before the games started, Algerian hackers installed an image of the Star of David over the Egyptian flag on the teams’ official website. An Algerian newspaper also referred to Cairo’s stadium as the “Tel Aviv stadium.” According to Gulf News, Algerian and Egyptian youths composed rap songs demonizing their opponents as “villains who must always lose.”
The rivalry was not limited to heated words– injuries among athletes and fans alike were reported throughout the matches, although Algerian and Egyptian sources offered drastically different accounts. Lindsey notes that the Algerian newspaper Echorouk posted a video claiming that an Algerian rapper’s brother was killed in Egypt, however the video was apparently a hoax.
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Algerian soccer team gets FIFA points
Dec 16th
Image via Wikipedia
PARIS – FIFA has awarded Wednesday Spain as the team of the year, with 15 victories in 16 games in 2009, while Algeria and Brazil have the highest increase over the previous year with a gain of 322 points each in the Fifa rankings.
This is the second consecutive year that Spain won this distinction. The only defeat of Spain in 2009 was in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup this summer against the United States. Spain tops FIFA’s latest rankings released in November.
Algeria, qualified for the World Cup 24 years after her last participation, achieves the rank of its history, winning 38 seats to climb to 26th place. Brazil, however, is in second place behind Spain.
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