He somehow survived two failures, but not the third one: Djamel Belmadi is no longer Algeria coach. He is officially the fourth coach to be sacked during AFCON, as the biggest African tournament is proving too be too tough for men in the dugout. Before the game with Mauritania on Tuesday night, Algeria was already in a not wanted position, as they needed a win to get to the knockout phase. Not only did they failed to win, but they allowed lowly Mauritania to record it‘s first ever AFCON win and to take Algeria‘s place in the next phase. Belmandi was already forgiven when his men ended the last AFCON after the first round, even thou they were defending champions at the time. He was also forgiven when the Fennec Foxes failed to qualify for the Qatar World Cup, but this had to be the end. 🚨🇩🇿 Algeria have parted ways with head coach Djamel Belmadi with immediate effect.#AFCON2023 #CAN2023 pic.twitter.com/WNnmrpGiAh— Africa Soccer Zone (@AfricaSoccer_zn) January 24, 2024 Algeria under Belmadi lost only seven of 67 matches he was in charge. He won 43 of his games in charge and the last defeat (before Mauritania) was way back in March 2022 by Cameroon. With the quality individuals he had at his disposal (Riyad Mahrez, Nabil Bentaleb, Sofiane Feghouli, Bensebaini Belaili, Aouar), he should have easily reached the semi-finals but he failed at the first step, ending the group stage without a win. AFCON 2023: Mauritania’s historical win eliminates Algeria from the competitionThe state-run Algerie Presse Service reported today that after an embarrassing loss, Belmadi told his players he was quitting. But during the day, an official announcement came from the president of the Algerian federation, Walid Sadi. “I met the national coach, Mr. Djamel Belmadi, to discuss the consequences of this bitter exclusion, and we reached an amicable agreement to dissolve the association and break the contract that binds the coach to the Federation Algerian Football. We thank coach Jamal Belmadi for everything he has done for the team and we wish him good luck for the rest of his career” he wrote on X. #AFCON2023 Furious Algeria fans Algerian tried to enter the Algeria team hotel in Ivory Coast in order to settle their score with the Algerian players, Djamel Belmadi and the president of the federation.@soka25east pic.twitter.com/9xDFosQIMS— Collins Okinyo (@bedjosessien) January 24, 2024 Belmadi is now the fourth coach to depart during this tournament. Gambia’s Tom Saintfiet quit, Ghana announced the sacking of Chris Hughton after they were eliminated and Ivory Coast couldn‘t wait the end of the tournament to get rid of Jean-Louis Gasset. Algeria has time to find a new manager, although they are playing their first game after AFCON at home in March. It will be the first edition of an international tournament, validated by FIFA, in which South Africa, Bolivia and Albania will participate. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7821960##
