Algeria star Riyad Mahrez considering international retirement following AFCON 2023 exit

Algeria suffered elimination from AFCON 2023

Algeria are eliminated from the Africa Cup (AFCON 2023) group stages once more. After the Fennecs depart from AFCON, some of their players are anticipated to hang up their boots.

The thunderclap finally came with Mauritania’s triumph over Algeria this Tuesday night. Even though Algeria is winning this match, it is still a waste of time. Mauritania uses counterattacks and a compact style, which works well for them as they can take the lead.

Mandrea deflects the ball out of the penalty area on a corner, a shot puts it back in danger, and Dellahi scores the goal (37th, 1-0). Rather than conceding a straightforward win, the Mourabitounes secure an equally historic qualifying at halftime.

Riyad Mahrez enters the game for Aouar as the Fennecs must respond. Still, the Mauritanians are the ones who stick out. They have two corners in a row, and Mandrea needs to save the second one (the 53rd) to keep things in play. Algeria wants to reply, but the Algerian bloc is too sluggish and utterly fragmented to cause any problems for the Mauritanian group.

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For the Algerian team, it’s probably the end of an era. According to Daniel Riolo, a lot of stars are just finished. He characterises the scenario as complete degradation for the team and blames the defeat on the players’ incompetence and the head coach who is at the tipping point of his rope. According to Riolo, the number of the team’s players is currently declining.

Djamel Belmadi, the Algerian coach, admits his impotence in the face of the circumstances during a press conference. He notes the dearth of goals and brings up enigmatic football moments, highlighting the fact that they had multiple chances to score but were unable to do so.

“Every time we concede a semblance of a chance, it ends up in the back of the net. We can go back to all the goals conceded. There are things I can’t explain. Then we can’t score even though we have plenty of chances. There’s a part of the mystery of football… If we weren’t creating clear chances, if we were dominated by other teams, I would say that things aren’t right. That’s not the case. There’s a part that I can’t explain, but it’s a reality,” he says.

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