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Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi says his team is ”eager” for the tournament to commence after arriving in Bouake on Wednesday.
The 2019 champions arrived at the Aeroport De Bouaké, 12:15pm local time on Wednesday.
Speaking about his team’s prospects, coach Djamel Belmadi could not hide his excitement.
“We are happy to be here and we are in a hurry to start the tournament. We had a good preparation, something that we didn’t get in the last AFCON and of course our target is to win this competition like many teams. We know it will be tough,” he said.
Meanwhile captain, Riyadh Mahrez, who now plies his trade for Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League says they had good preparation and will take the tournament game after game.
“We had a good preparation and we are ready. We can’t wait to start show how prepared we are to compete. The objective is winning the first game then we will see,” he said.
The squad were met on arrival by an artistic display of local culture – music, drumming, and dancing by an ensemble and a number of Algerians in Bouake were also on hand to welcome their national heroes.
The two-time winners will hope to exorcise the demons of their 2021 campaign when they suffered a group stage exit as defending champions in Cameroun.
The Desert Foxes are drawn in Group D with Angola, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. Their first assignment
Algeria kick off their campaign against Angola at the 40 000-capacity Stade de la Paix on Monday, 15 January before taking on Burkina Faso five days later. They conclude their group campaign against Mauritania on 23 January.
Djamel Belmadi’s men will then take on Burkina Faso and Mauritania on January 20 and 23 respectively.
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