The king tramples. Defending champion, Algeria was held in check by the modest Sierra Leone (0-0), the first failure of a favorite at the African Cup of Nations (CAN), Tuesday in Douala. If Senegal, another favorite, got away with a last-second penalty against Zimbabwe (1-0) the day before, Algeria stammered its football to the end and signed the first 0-0 of the competition. The only meager consolation, the “Greens” are content to extend their unbeaten streak to 35 matches, two units from the record set by Italy (37). They can match it if they don’t lose to Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast, their next opponents in Group E, who face each other on Wednesday (2:00 p.m.).
But Djamel Belmadi’s men, who haven’t shown much of a contender for victory against impeccable disciplined ‘Leone Stars’, will have to do a lot more to avoid losing to the Elephants. For its third participation in the CAN, Sierra Leone, qualified after a last stormy match against Benin, polluted by a history of questionable positive tests, gets away with a historic result.