Malawi Challenge Les Fennecs in Capital

Group A kicks off on the 10th of January, but Algeria will have to wait until the 11th of January for their opening African Cup of Nations match against Malawi in the Angolan Capital of Luanda. The Estadio 11 de Novembro hosts a match that Algeria, who target qualification, must win.

After training in Southern France, Algeria will go into this one knowing only a win is good enough. With much experience and quality in their side, Malawi will need to be structured and organised by their manager Kinnah Phiri. Malawi have won once in their last 6 matches, this coming at home to Guinea in a 1-0 victory. On the other hand, Algeria have only lost once in six games in Cairo during that thrilling and controversial match against Egypt.

Looking now at some of the key players for this one, Malawi will need a strong leader if they are going to do anything in the competition and Peter Mponda is that man, he skippers Malawi and plays his club football in South Africa. In attack, Essau Kanyenda and Chieukepo Msowoya are two players who are capable of scoring with Msowoya scoring 6 in qualification for Malawi. Overall, their squad isn’t the most familiar and there are only two who play their football in Europe, one in Sweden and one in Russia.

Algeria’s Ziani is ready for battle

The Algerians should line-up in their familiar system which is the 4-4-2 diamond that has served them well so far under Rabah Saadane. With only one African Cup of Nations success to their name, Algeria have a lot to live up to especially against the powerful and superior sides of Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana. As I mentioned in the “Key Players” article, Karim Ziani will be crucial to a short, passing game for Algeria as the small playmaker pulls the strings for the Desert Foxes. A well-known strength of Algeria is the attacking threat the full-backs will provide in Rangers’ Madjid Bougherra, who actually plays centre-back in Scotland, and Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth who has impressed in the English Premiership with his pace and a very good left-foot.

This game certainly won’t be centre stage in the opening few fixtures with the buzz over the Angolan hosts, but for sure the passionate Algerian fans will have made the journey down to Angola to support Les Fennecs. If I have to stick my neck out for a scoreline, I’ll go for a comfortable 2-0 win for the Algerians.