Aboutaball :: About World Football

Kick-off: Monday January 11, 13.45 GMT

Location: Estadio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola

The second fixture in Group A at 2010 African Cup of Nations gets underway as Algeria seek to prove they are worth of a place at the World Cup later in the year against minnows Malawi.

Algeria were one of the surprise qualifiers, not only from Africa, but across the World, for one of the 31 places on offer at next summer’s World Cup.  Their bitter battle with their North African rivals Egypt across three games made headlines both off and on the pitch.  They will now be looking to use the 2010 African Cup of Nations as a chance to show that they can compete at the very highest level.

One of the main accusations levelled at Algeria was that they simply don’t possess enough firepower to match the very best in Africa.  Statistically that simply isn’t correct, as the nine goals they notched in the second group stage of World Cup qualifying, which also doubled up as African Cup of Nations qualifying, more than stands comparison with the like of Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, all of whom also notched the identical amount in their games.

A lack of firepower

What may be a more accurate statement is that Algeria can’t call up the sort of world-class strikers that the like of Nigeria, the Ivory Coast or Cameroon can rely on.  Indeed the four forwards named by coach Rabah Saadane can muster barely twenty goals between them, and one of them is yet to even earn a full senior cap.  That makes the omission of the like of Hull City’s Kamel Ghilas somewhat surprising given that he has a reasonable record at club level, his rather barren 6 months on Humberside apart.

Whilst Algeria can’t call on many household names for the attack, their midfield is packed full of attacking talent, and it may be from this slightly deeper area that they can prosper.  The two Karims at Bundesliga sides Ziani (Wolfsburg) and Matmour (Borussia Moechengladbach) are two world-class individuals more than capable of finding the back of the net in their own right or setting up a chance for someone else.

Low expectations

The question of expectations on both sides is certainly as interesting one.  From Algeria’s perspective many of their ambitious fans will be expecting their side to perform strongly at the tournament.  Therefore any failure, not only in this game, but a failure to reach at least the quarter finals will be seen as a huge disappointment.

Brought up on a diet of success in the 1980’s, the Fennecs, as Algeria are known, failed to meet expectations since their two World Cup appearances in 1982 and 1986.  Following the qualification for 2010, the broad anticipation in Algiers and further beyond, is that this is the start of a similar period of success for the country.  To add further pressure to Algeria, the head of the FA has stated that he believes the team are capable of reaching the finals in Angola, which given the competition is perhaps somewhat ambitious.

Malawi certainly won’t be suffering from that.  This will only be their second ever appearance at the main tournament after scrambling through in 1984.  They performed well enough on that occasion, but the gap in African football between the strongest and weakest is now a yawning chasm, and Malawi can be considered one of the few minnows at this tournament.

Punching above their weight

Recent performances have been distinctly mixed for Malawi with the general trend being that they tend to perform better against the stronger sides, but fail to meet expectations against sides they may be considered able to compete against.

An example of this unusual pattern is that in the past 6 months they have held the Ivory Coast (1-1), Egypt (1-1) and Ghana (0-0) to draws, but have slumped to defeats to Mozambique (1-0) and Burkina Faso (1-0).  Their defeat to Mozambique in the COSAFA Cup 2009 when invited to Zimbabwe to participate at the tournament was most disappointing as it they had no further opportunity to measure themselves against peers.

It could be argued that Algeria surpassed expectations in reaching the World Cup.  However, current form is impossible to assess, as they haven’t organised one single official friendly.  This is either an indication of supreme confidence, or utter disorganisation.  The effect of the lack of football prior to the kick-off against Malawi will only become evident during the match, but a disjointed performance is almost certainly inevitable.

Form Guide

Malawi

05/01/10 – Ghana (a) 0-0 (International Friendly)

29/12/09 – Egypt (a) 1-1 (International Friendly)

19/12/09 – Mozambique (a) 0-1 (International Friendly)

14/11/09 – Burkina Faso (a) 1-0 (2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier)

25/10/09 – Mozambique (n) 0-1 (COSAFA Cup Quarter-Final)

Algeria

18/11/09 – Egypt (n) 1-0 (2010 FIFA World Cup Play-off)

14/11/09 – Egypt (a) 2-0 (2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier)

11/10/09 – Rwanda (h) 3-1 (2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier)

06/09/09 – Zambia (h) 1-0 (2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier)

12/08/09 – Uruguay (h) 1-0 (International Friendly)

Team News

Malawi

Team news for Malawi remains limited, but the main players for the team appear to be fit and ready to defend the honour of the Flames for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.  Josephy Kamwendo has already stated his desire to move to Europe on the strength of his performances at the tournament, whilst many of the other squad members plying their trade in South Africa, will also have their eye on a lucrative deal with a European side.

Algeria

The main concern for the Fennecs focuses on the goal hero from that crazy night in Sudan some three months ago: Antar Yahia.  The Bochum-based defender grabbed the goal to take Algeria through, but that performance came at a cost as he aggravated an old injury to jeopardise his participation in Angola.  He has however, promised to be ready to take his place against Malawi.  His replacement could be Samir Zaoui from ASO Chlef, if Yahia can’t make good on his promise.

Players to Watch

Malawi

Defender and captain of the team Peter Maponda will have a crucial role to play against Algeria.  Whilst many expect Malawi to mount a rearguard action and for the entire defence to be pretty busy, Maponda’s most important role will be to ensure that the Flames don’t sit too close to their own goal.  If they hold a deep line against Algeria they can expect to be torn to shreds, as this will yield far too much space to the like of the deep lying creative midfielders such as Karim Ziani.  If Maponda can encourage his defence to push up and restrict space, Algeria could find it tough going against Malawi.

Algeria

The counter to Malawi’s key player as already identified will be Karim Ziani. The former Marseille midfielder may not have been able to fulfil expectations during his time on the French south coast following an €11 million switch from Sochaux, but is a creative and gifted playmaker.  If he can find space he will undoubtedly exploit it, and if he can prevent Malawi from closing him down, then it could be a long afternoon for the Malawian defence.

Prediction

With neither side particularly in form in front of goal, don’t expect this one to be a goal-fest.  Furthermore Algeria’s lack of football will probably render their initial performance somewhat disjointed  Malawi’s prime concern will be keeping a clean-sheet and frustrating Algeria for as long as possible, and the onus will undoubtedly be on the North Africans to break them down.  That may take some time, but they should have enough to take the win.

Malawi 0-1 Algeria