‘Seye Akanmu-Bode.
Almost a year ago when 43 year old ex-international, Djamel Belmadi was appointed coach of the Desert Foxes, not many Algerians believed him when he said his target was to win the 2019 Afcon. Algeria had crashed out of Afcon 2017 group stage and had failed to qualify for the Russia 2018 World Cup,so for most Algerians,it was more of an expectation of a better performance not necessarily the trophy. For Delmadi,it was mission possible. Algeria had had series of coaches but results remained same. The coach had to bring in new players, axing big names as Islam Slimani of Leicester and Yacine Brahimi of Porto ( though both came for the Afcon but were largely on the bench) ,giving opportunities to local talents such as Benlamri as against the reliance on French-born talents. He also worked on the tactical nouse of the team. As an ex international, he understood the language of the player.
Last night in Cairo, an early minute goal from Baghdad Bounedjah gave Algeria the victory over hard fighting Teranga Lions of Senegal who were chasing a first triumph in the final. Thus,Delmadi has written his name in gold in the annals of Algerian football history by being able to raise a golden generation of Algerian players after the likes of Rabah Madjer, Abdehhafid Tasfaout and Lakhdar Belloumi.
The individual awards for the tournament have been released by Caf. The player of the tournament is Algerian midfielder Ismael Bennacer who plays for Empoli in the Serie A but expected to join the Rossoneri,AC Milan. He is also the best young player of the Afcon ( 21 years) . He won the player of the tournament after winning two Man of the Match awards.
The best goalkeeper goes to Algeria’s Rias M’boli. Senegal got the Fair play award. There is garland for Nigeria too as Odion Ighalo won the golden boot as the highest goal scorer with five goals.
The curtain has fallen on Afcon 2019 in Egypt. It was the first edition with a 24 team format and thus produced the highest goal ever (102). Madagascar produced a debutant performance that surprised many. One draw back of the Afcon however was the sparsely filled stadia. We say congratulations however to Egypt for hosting a hitch free competition at a late hour after Caf withdrew hosting right from Cameroon.
Congratulations to Algeria,the new face of African football and I say a big congrats to our Super Eagles for winning a bronze medal( our birth right). We need the gold in Afcon 2021, hopefully in Cameroon ( if they sit up and improve their infrastructure).
