The Lions of Chinguetti are set to compete in their final group match in the ongoing African Cup of Nations at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake on Tuesday, facing off against the Desert Foxes.
Mauritania, already eliminated, will play for honor, while Algeria, the 2019 competition winners, also risk elimination from AFCON if they fail to secure three points in the match. The Algerian team has struggled to secure victories in their first two group games, managing one point each against Burkina Faso and Angola.
Having not lost a competitive game since the last AFCON, the Desert Foxes aim to bounce back to secure advancement. On the other hand, Mauritania has faced defeats in their previous two games, failing to secure any points. In eight matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, Mauritania has yet to taste victory, with two draws and six losses.
In their six prior encounters, Algeria has maintained an unbeaten record against Mauritania, securing five wins and one draw since March 1985. Mauritania’s coach, Amir Abdou, anticipates a challenging game.
“We are going to have a very important game against the favorite of this group. It is going to be a very complicated game and we know we are going to play against a very good team.
“This is a team that has a lot of high-quality players. We are not here to distribute points, we are here to do our best and we will do everything possible to be at the right level.
“We do acknowledge the level of the opponent. What we are looking for as Mauritania is our first victory. Algeria is looking for the title, but we are looking for the victory.”
Also, a Mauritania player, Mouhsine Bodda, said his team was prepared for the game and would approach it with full concentration.
“We’ve noticed that Algeria have not shown their true potential in the games played so far. Have you seen the squad of Algeria? If one is injured, there is another quality available, we know their quality and as I have been saying, we are going to focus on our team and prepare for the game and everything we are going to do will be with concentration. We know how good the Algerian team is but we will make sure we become an obstacle for them,” he said.
On his part, the Algeria coach, Djamel Belmadi, who admitted that the fixture is a decisive match, said his team was not ready to leave the competition.
“It’s a decisive match, let’s call a spade a spade. Against Burkina we only conceded a corner, they only arrived once in our area. The psychological motivation to come back does not surprise me, I know my team doesn’t want to leave the competition.
“We will have to reduce the errors we commit. These are adjustments that we must make. By reducing errors as much as possible it will swing to our side. We can become more prolific, more precise in front of goals,” Belmadi said.
