AFCON 2019: Down to Four

Nigeria and Algeria don’t just rhyme. And they are not merely about green and white shirts either. Between those two nations is a rich history of Afcon classics, two of them finals.

Nigeria — in Nigeria — won their first title off the Algerians in 1980; a decade later, also on their own turf, Les Fennecs returned the favour. Nigeria have gone on to become the more successful side, adding to their title count and now seeking a fourth. For Algeria, the Afcon has not been so kind post-1990 and the north Africans are still looking for their first medals since that maiden triumph.

Over the last few years, they’ve had the players to make it happen — a star-studded crew led by two-time Premier League winner Riyad Mahrez — but only at Afcon 2019 has it looked most probable that Djamel Belmadi’s side could pull it off. Aside a tense quarterfinal against Ivory Coast that took a shootout to settle, Algeria have been comfortable, scoring nine goals and conceding none until the date with Les Elephants. Next up, though, is a familiar foe that could put a spoke in Algeria’s wheel at this stage — just as in 1988.

Algeria haven’t made the last four of the Afcon since 2010, but Nigeria are far more regular at the party, failing to advance this far only thrice in their 18-edition Afcon history. They have had to work hard for their ticket this time, though, following slim victories against Burundi and Guinea with a shocking loss to Madagascar, before narrowly overpowering rivals Cameroon and South Africa.

Those latter results have Gernot Rohr’s team brimming with confidence — having already achieved the minimum target for this year’s Afcon — but, according to Nigerian freelance journalist Tolu Olasoji, more would be required to go one better.

“If there is anything to be learnt from the Cote d’Ivoire-Algeria game, it is that this Algeria team is beatable, but being clinical is key to exploiting their weaknesses,” Olasoji, a contributor to UK-based magazine FourFourTwo, opines.

“Having found the right defensive balance capable of halting the Algerian forward forays, the midfield is back clicking, but what Nigeria makes of frequent breakaways is what is going to make a difference.

“Expect Samuel Chukwueze and — to some extent — Odion Ighalo to bring their A-game, but Ahmed Musa must operate at optimal levels, too.”

Given Algeria’s lofty aim, Nigeria really have to switch it up as Olasoji suggests.

“We did not come to be the first of the group, we did not come to reach the semi-final, we came for a very different goal that we have not achieved for a very long time,” says Belmadi, a former Algeria international appointed last year to a job Rohr was also linked to.

The France-born would be pleased that his team has thus far heeded his counsel to “put a little less focus” on Manchester City star Mahrez, as lesser lights like Adam Ounas and Ismael Bennacer have complemented the captain’s wizardry.

With Nigeria also possessing its own potential match-winners — the likes of Chukwueze, Ighalo and Alex Iwobi have all put in fine shifts — the prospect of individual brilliance blessing a game contested by two solid teams is quite exciting.

For Sadio Mane and his Senegal team, history beckons. Of the four left in this year’s tournament, only the Lions of Teranga don’t have an Afcon triumph to their name. The farthest they’ve come was in 2002, when the side skippered by Aliou Cisse lost the final to Cameroon, but the current generation — with Cisse as coach — is inching ever closer to going one better.

Mane, of course, is the man everyone looks up to, and, for the most part, he has dragged Senegal this far. With Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah and his nation — hosts Egypt — out, Mane is now the biggest name at this Afcon, and the spotlight that comes with could be blinding. But if there is anyone to thrive on the biggest platforms, it’s Mane, and, thankfully, he’s got a supporting cast good enough to prop him up.

There is one mean defence guarded by Kalidou Koulibaly and Co., while the likes of Ismaila Sarr and Keita Balde flatter Mane upfront when in the spirit. That Senegal have had to grind out 1-0 wins in their two knockout games belies the verve and panache they play with, and there could be even more style served against Tunisia.

The Tunisians themselves are only just coming into their own, dismissing plucky debutants Madagascar 3-0 to banish those struggles that saw them fail to win any of their four preceding games. Alain Giresse’s team takes its greatest inspiration from Wahbi Khazri — like Mane, a No.10-shirted genie who once played in red-and-white stripes for a Premier League club.

Khazri, now with Saint-Etienne in France, shrugged off injury worries to swing affairs against Ghana and the Malagasy, and would be counted on heavily versus Senegal. However, he wouldn’t have to do it alone, with teammates Ferjani Sassi, Naim Sliti and Youssef Msakni all proving just as influential. And, yes, there is that rearguard which — like Senegal’s — gives little away.

“Senegal are a strong team and they’re different from any other team,” admits Giresse about a side he once trained. “They have Sadio Mane, whom I predicted a great future for before. But, we’ll be ready.”

Cisse, dreadlocked and bold, offers his own views.

“They possess special skills and their players are capable of creating the difference,” the 43-year-old says of Sunday’s opponents.

“However,” he adds, “we’re in the semi-finals for the first time since 2002 [sic] and this motivates us to win. We have improved a lot and I stand by my team.”

Between two challengers that have not been in the semis for sometime, there would be no shortage of inspiration at Cairo’s 30 June Stadium. An even game this could be, then, but with Senegal’s consistent swagger likely to blunt Tunisia’s late bloom.

Sammie Frimpong – Daily Mail GH