The fiasco of Algeria, eliminated from the group stages of the African Cup of Nations (CAF), was fatal to its coach, Djamel Belmadi. The president of the Algerian Football Federation, Walid Sadi, announced on Wednesday January 24 the departure of the coach on his X account. “I met with the national coach, Djamel Belmadi, to discuss the implications of this bitter elimination, and we reached a friendly agreement to end our relationship and terminate the contract that binds the coach to the Algerian Football Federation »he announced.
The defeat Tuesday evening in Ivory Coast against modest Mauritania (1-0), which caused the elimination of Algeria, sealed the fate of Djamel Belmadi. During the first two matches of the competition, the Fennecs failed to beat Angola (1-1) or Burkina Faso (2-2). In 2022, Algeria had already been eliminated in the first round. Thus, the Algerian coach has not won a single match at the CAN since the 2019 coronation.
“Minister of Happiness”
Tuesday evening, the former international player attributed the elimination of his team to a lack of realism. To a question about the fact that he became the first Algerian coach eliminated twice in the first round of the CAN, Belmadi replied: “You did not specify that I am the second to have won the African Cup. »
Djamel Belmadi, 47, took charge of the Greens in August 2018. He was praised after Algeria’s victory during CAN 2019, in Egypt; a coronation which earned him the nickname “minister of happiness” by the Algerians. But the first criticisms began to arise after Algeria’s early elimination during CAN 2022 and then after its failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Despite these results, the Algerian federation extended its contract until 2026 in January.
In his message on X, the president of the federation presented “apologies to the fans of the selection and to the Algerian people, for the face displayed by the players during the competition and this premature elimination in the first round”.