Algeria names squad ahead of Gambia clash

The head coach of the Algeria national team coach Vahid Halilhodžić has announced a 28-man squad for his team’s upcoming 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Scorpions of The Gambia that will take place on Wednesday February 29 at the Independence Stadium in Banjul.

Notable absences include the influential Karim Ziani, whom Halilhodžić judged not as competitive as other midfielders at his disposal, as well as Olympiacos duo Djamel Abdoun and Rafik Zoheir Djebbour.

Meanwhile, Real Sociedad’s Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaiba and Aberdeen’s Mohamed Chalali will represent the North Africans for the first time.

The Bosnian-born head coach has named four back-up players in Abdelkader Ghezzal, Kamel Ghilas, Islami Slimani, and Mohamed Amine Zemmamouche.

They are part of the enlarged squad but probably won’t take part in the match unless there are injuries to other players.

The list was sent to Gambia Sports Online by Algerian journalist Smail Berhail who confirmed to us that they’ll be coming with a high powered delegation.

Berhail confirmed to us that the Algerians are not taking this game lightly and they’ll be doing all possible best to see that they go back home with the three points. “In an interview with the coach [Halilhodžić], he said this will not be an easy game and the fans also have the same view but we [Algerians] are hopeful that we will go home with the three points and finish off the game in Algiers.”

The head coach of the Gambia national team Peter Bonu Johnson hasn’t released his list of invited players for the game though but when contacted by Gambia Sports Online to have his say on his counterpart’s comment, Bonu said, “We need this match more than the Algerians despite them coming with more than 50 man delegation and their chartered flight. We will play our hearts out to win with a good goal margin.”

It could be recalled that Gambia met with Algeria four times – two in the 2010 World Cup Qualifying match [Gambia 1 – 0 Algeria & Algeria 1 – 0 Gambia] and two in the 2008 AFCON qualifier [Algeria 1 – 0 Gambia & Gambia 2 – 1 Algeria].

Below are the names of the players coming for the encounter alongside the teams they play for:

Goal-keepers

01 Raïs M’Bolhi – CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)
02 Izzeddine Doukha – USM El Harrach (Algeria)
03 Faouzi Chaouchi – MC Alger

Defenders

04 Mehdi Mostefa Sbaa – AC Ajaccio (France)
05 Mohamed Rabie Meftah – USM Alger (Algeria)
06 Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba – Real Sociedad (Spain)
07 Madjid Bougherra – Lekhwiya (Qatar)
08 Carl Medjani – AC Ajaccio (France)
09 Ismaël Mickael Bouzid – Baniyas SC (United Arab Emirates)
10 Antar Yahia – FC Kaiserslautern (Germany)
11 Djamel Eddine Mesbah – AC Milan (Italy)

Midfielders

12 Adlène Guedioura – Nottingham Forest (England)
13 Khaled Lemmouchia – USM Alger (Algeria)
14 Hassan Yebda – Granada (Spain)
15 Mehdi Gregory Giuseppe Lacen – Getafe (Spain)
16 Hocine Metref – JS Kabylie (Algeria)
17 Abdelmoumene Djabou – ES Sétif (Algeria)
18 Sofiane Feghouli – FC Valencia but on loan to Almería (Spain)
19 Ryad Boudebouz – FC Sochaux (France)
20 Foued Kadir – Valenciennes (France)

Forwards

21 Karim Matmour – Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
22 Hamer Bouazza – Millwall (England)
23 Mohamed Amine Aoudia – ES Sétif (Algeria)
24 Mohamed Chalali – Aberdeen (Scotland)

Back-up players:
Name of players and their clubs

01 Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche – USM Alger (Algeria)
02 Abdelkader Mohamed Ghezzal – Levante UD (Spain)
03 Islam Slimani – CR Belouizdad (Algeria)
04 Kamel Fathi Ghilasl – Stade de Reims (France)