Algeria

They were the first African team to beat a European opponent in the World Cup, but they will consider themselves lucky if they manage to repeat that this year.

Changing the situation

It was their first World Cup and they’ve already made history. In 1982 they beat West Germany and should then advance but because Germans and Austrians decided to split the promoting places between them, Algeria had to return home. They’ve played in the next World Cup and then appeared 24 years later – in 2010.

It wasn’t always a team with huge stars – most talented Algerians decided to play for France, but were always a very hard working one. But in order to succeed, they had to have some sort of organisation and in went Vahid Halilhodzic, who coached Ivory Coast recently.

The Bosnian coach looked at the squad and addressed the most important issues. “I worked with the same team that didn’t score in the 2010 World Cup and I saw them demoralised. Situation had to be changed” he told FIFA.com.

Trickery from Spain

He had to discard well established players and replace them with younger ones. One of the stars in this team is Yacine Brahimi from Granada. He may not be a very prolific winger but certainly he’s wonderful to watch, leading La Liga in dribbling (4.8 per game, more than Lionel Messi).

On the other side Algeria has a good winger in Sophiane Feghouli of Valencia, who can also play in the number 10 position. He is a creative offensive player and should create many chances for Islam Slimani of Sporting CP, who scored eight goals in the Portuguese top flight.

Long balls from Bougherra

Algeria’s game is based on Slimani’s heading skills. They have a high percentage of goals scored from long balls, which is not a coincidence, more of Halilhodzic’s philosophy for this team. Players maintain a high level of discipline, but also went to a next level, showing enough confidence to be more attacking and quicker than before.

A player to keep his teammates level-headed is Madjid Bougherra, who plays in the national team for more than ten years. He plays as a right back but he looks to be a leader of defence, making sure that his side is defensively sound. Expect a lot of barking of him at Faouzi Ghoulam, who moved this year from Saint-Etienne to Napoli and is a offensive type of a defender, who does also shoot a lot, although with mixed results.

Playing style

Algeria plays a cautious football, but they always look to pass the ball forward, mainly with a long punt. Their game is quick and sharp, which makes it difficult to defender. Comparing to other African sides, Algeria has a solid defence and should use that as their main weapon in Brazil.

Coach

Vahid Halilhodzic coached several French teams (he lead PSG in the Champions League) before moving to Ivory Coast and then via Dinamo Zagreb we ended up in Algeria. He prefers very meticulous approach and likes to address every detail in his job. He is more of a tactical than motivational type of coach.

Schedule and BETEGY predictions

17th June, Belo Horizonte: vs. Belgium (0-2)

22nd June, Porto Alegre: vs. Korea Republic (0-1)

26th June, Curitiba: vs. Russia (0-2)

Algeria are not likely to advance to the knockout stages (just 12% chance) and it’s not very probable for them not only to get a point but also to score with BETEGY’s calculations indicating three straight wins to nil for the opponent.