Algeria’s 35-game unbeaten streak ends, now stares at imminent exit

Reigning champions Algeria are in danger of an early exit from the Africa Cup of Nations after a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of outsiders Equatorial Guinea in Douala on Sunday.

Esteban Obiang’s 70th-minute goal gave Equatorial Guinea the victory and brought Algeria’s 35-game unbeaten record crashing to an end.

” It ends (Algeria’s unbeaten run). What do you want, we are in a tough position. We are in a difficult situation, a big difficult situation that we have not experienced for a long time. I’ll tell you that we are in a tough period, a really tough one,” said Djamel Belmadi, Algeria head coach.

Alhaji Kamara bundled the ball into the net following an astonishing goalkeeping blunder in injury time to give Sierra Leone a shock 2-2 draw with the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations in Douala on Sunday.

The Ivory Coast coach was left astonished after the incident but also expressed satisfaction and hopeful in the forthcoming game to further strengthen their qualification to the next stage.

” Most important is to see our people smile, to see what it means for people back home. In the last two games, we managed to bring a lot of smiles. So we got one more big, big game, in the group. And hopefully, we can get three points and qualify,” said Steven Caulker, Sierra Leone center-back.

Ivory Coast now tops Group E with 4 points. Equatorial Guinea are second with 3 points, Sierra Leone are third with two points and Algeria is last on the table with a point.

Ivory Coast will meet Algeria in their last Group E match on Thursday, while Algeria will play Equatorial Guinea on the same day. A win for any team guarantees their qualification.

The Gambia also drew Mali 1-1 in Group F matches on Sunday to move both teams closer to the elimination stage.

Tunisia also recorded their first win on Sunday after beating Mauritania 4-0.

Mali and The Gambia top the group with four points each, Tunisia three points and Mauritania have no point.

The Gambia will face Tunisia while Mali will play Mauritania on Thursday

source: africanews.com