Algeria re-open Fifth of July stadium with win against Uruguay

2009-08-13

Rafik Djebbour netted the winning goal as the Algerian national football team defeated their Uruguayan counterparts 1-0 on Wednesday in a friendly match in Algiers.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers — 13/08/09

[File] A newly renovated Fifth of July stadium greeted Algeria's national side for their Wednesday (August 12th) friendly with Uruguay.

Algeria's national football team gave their fans cause to cheer on Wednesday (August 12th) as they returned to the newly renovated Fifth of July Stadium and defeated Uruguay 1-0 in a friendly match.

A sprinkling of new faces added to the excitement for fans, who were reunited with their team on their upgraded pitch in the capital for the first time in two years.

"It's a dream come true for me; I hope I'll be able to bring something to the national side," said midfielder Mourad Meghni of Lazio, Rome, who said he was "proud to be wearing the national colours" and hoped to help his compatriots reach the World Cup.

Algeria's fans seemed to share Meghni's hopes, turning out in crowds in the belief that the national side can restore their country's international standing to its former glory after spending a long time in the shadows.

But Uruguay, who are training for a 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Peru, were not about to go down easy. The South Americans justified their reputation as formidable opponents, standing up well to an Algerian side bolstered by their June victories against Egypt and Zambia.

The match, refereed by a Tunisian threesome, got rolling with opportunities created on both sides. The absence of certain players on both teams (Antar Yahia, Rafik Halliche, Kamel Ghilas and Samir Zaoui for the Algerians, Diego Forlan, Martin Caceres and Alvaro Pereira for the Uruguayans) was clearly a factor in the uneven quality of some of the play.

But the Fifth of July crowd's two-year wait was rewarded in the 79th minute, when Rafik Djebbour received a well-judged pass right on the edge of the penalty area, following a strong counter-attack on the right flank. Djebbour fired a powerful shot that made it past the Uruguayan goalkeeper and put the Algerians in the lead for good.

The stands erupted. The atmosphere at this reunion between the Fifth of July crowd and the national side bodes well for the official matches, which should see the Algerian team through to qualification for the World Cup.

Algerian coach Rabah Saadane said Wednesday's victory marked "a good start to the season", but in a post-match statement he characterised his players' second-half performance as varying from "good" to "not so good".

"The Uruguayans were more disciplined than our players, who tended towards a kind of individualism that I deplore," said the coach, adding: "I'm not talking about all the players, just some of them. I don't like that individualism, and I want to take care of that really quickly."

Uruguay's coach, Oscar Tabarez, said he had a good impression of the Algerian side, even though he regretted what he called the "aggressiveness" of certain players.

He commended Algeria's Karim Matmour for his ball-handling skills, but said Karim Ziani "ought to think a little so that he doesn't hurt his opponents, especially in a friendly match."

Djebbour, who netted the winning goal, said the win was "good for morale" and that he was "content to have scored that goal".

He added, however, that it was just the start of the season, and that it was too soon to judge the future "on the basis of this match".

The Algerian players trained for Wednesday's match since Sunday at the Beni Messous military compound.

At a press conference on the eve of the match, Saadane said that the encounter would be useful as a test, in that it would enable him to gauge the fitness of the players before their forthcoming match against Zambia on September 6th, which will be part of the joint qualifying round for the Africa Cup and 2010 World Cup.

"What I'm most interested in, during this match against a worthy side, is the individual and collective evaluation of the team in the run-up to the next official match, against the Zambians," he said.