Jamal Belmadi, coach of the Algerian national team, believes that the draw achieved by his team against Angola in the opening match of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is not a bad result.
The champion of the 2019 edition commenced its 2023 campaign with a one-to-one draw against Angola.
In statements to journalists, Belmadi said, “Football penalized us, and the Angolan national team knew how to exploit our period of weakness.”
He added, “We will exert our utmost efforts to lift our heads in the upcoming matches.
We deserved a better result even though we anticipated the difficulty of facing a well-defending opponent.”
Continuing, he said, “Our performance in the second half differed from what we showed in the first.
We shared possession with the Angolan team, created several opportunities unlike the opponent who equalized through a penalty kick.”
“We failed to control the field at times, which caused our net to shake,” he admitted.
“The result is not bad; sometimes stumbling is good for delivering great performances later,” he emphasized.
“BAGHDAD BOUNEDJAH is delivering good performances, and that’s why I gave him the opportunity to play as a starter.
Islam Slimani is also good, but he hasn’t played for a while,” he concluded.
Christopher Mabwolo, the striker of Alexandria’s Union, led Angola to snatch a point from Algeria in the opening match of the fourth round of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Algeria took the lead in the 18th minute through Baghdad Bounedjah, while substitute Mabwolo equalized from a penalty in the 68th minute.
Mabwolo, a player for Alexandria’s Union, won the Egyptian League’s top scorer award in the previous season.
Both Algeria and Angola are in Group Four alongside Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
