The stage is set for the opening game of the 2022 African Nations Championship between Algeria and Libya at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Friday night.
For a fixture that is between two North African neighbours, it promises to be nothing but an intense and electric atmosphere in what should be a packed crowd at the newly-built 40,000-capacity stadium.
CHAN HISTORY
The Desert Foxes enjoyed the privilege of not playing during qualifiers thus had an automatic spot in this upcoming tournament.
Their only previous CHAN outing was in 2011 in Sudan where they finished fourth after losing 1-0 to the tournament hosts.
The Algerians will hope to make home advantage count in their second CHAN outing as they look to make a statement on their quest to host the Africa Cup of Nations in future.
The Mediterranean Knights meanwhile will be making their fifth CHAN appearance and come to Algeria as the third most successful team since the competition’s inception in 2009 after Morocco and DR Congo.
They won the competition in 2014 by beating Ghana on penalties and ended 2018 in fourth place by losing on penalties to Sudan.
Libya’s decent CHAN performance will be a motivating factor to do well once again in the backyard of their neighbours.
CURRENT FORM
Algeria played three warm-up matches against Mauritania, Senegal and Ghana. All three however ended in draws, the latter finished goalless while the other two ended 0-0 and 2-2 respectively.
This puts the Foxes in a bit of an unknown heading into the tournament proper and Libya will look to make things tough for them once again.
Libya’s preparations for CHAN 2022 have gone poorly with two defeats against 2016 CHAN bronze winners Ivory Coast and two-time CHAN champions DR Congo, losing both games 1-0 and 3-1 respectively.
Such results could be music to the ears of the Algerians but it is still no guarantee for a victory for the men in white and green.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Algeria and Libya met six times previously during the CHAN qualifiers.
Their first meeting was ahead of the 2011 edition which the Foxes won 2-1 on aggregate. The next meeting came ahead of the 2014 CHAN and on that occasion Libya bashed the Algerians 6-0 on aggregate. Their next clash would come towards the 2018 CHAN with Libya winning 3-2 on aggregate.
In all, Algeria have recorded two wins while Libya have three wins with one draw.
Libya have the edge in goals, scoring 11 against the Algerians while the Foxes have scored just four goals across the six games against the Libyans.
WHAT ARE THE COACHES SAYING?
Algeria manager, Madjid Bougherra: “Test matches should not be compared with competitive matches. There are several factors that come into play for example, we have been preparing for this competition for a year and a half, for a while we played without fans. Tomorrow, we will face our people and our destiny.”
Libya manager, Corentin Martins: “We have no luck with the draw that put us in the same group with the hosts Algeria. It is a difficult derby match that awaits us and therefore we will do everything we can to achieve a positive result. We will show our full potential as well especially since we worked to achieve the best possible result.”
