The Algerian national team began its campaign in the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations, with a difficult victory over its Zambian guest 3-1 at the Hussein Ait Ahmed Stadium in Tizi Ouzou in Group Nine.
The confrontation was the first official test for the new coach of the “Greens” team, Ibrahim Hamdani, as he relied on new and young names as part of the replacement plan after the generation of Riyad Mahrez and his companions.
The new coach included influential names in the team, such as Rami Ben Sabaini, Rayan Ait Nouri, Nabil Bentaleb, Mohamed Lamine Amoura, and Amine Gouiri.
The Algerians did not give their guests the opportunity, as they opened the scoring after only two minutes through Joan Hajam with a sudden shot from a weak angle following a forward pass from Amoura.
The “Desert Warriors” continued their dominance with a strong performance from Ibrahim Mazza and Gomorra in the middle, as the ball reached Bachir Belloumi, son of local legend Lakhdar Belloumi, who shot powerfully over the goal (10).
Saudi Al-Fayhaa player Fashion Sakala equalized for the "Copper Bullets" team after taking advantage of a huge mistake by the Algerian defense in monitoring, so he advanced and shot a powerful ball that hit the Algerian net (57).
The Algerian team regained pressure, especially after Hamdani's good substitutions. Mazza restored Algeria's lead with a powerful shot that the Zambian goalkeeper was unable to block (67).
Substitute Anis Haj Moussa increased the score with a shot into the heart of the goal following a distinctive back pass from Mazza (74).
The Egyptian national team began its campaign in the 2027 African Cup of Nations qualifiers with a disappointing goalless draw with its guest Angola in the first round of the qualifiers on Friday.
Each team earned one point to share second place behind Malawi, the leader of Group Two, after its 2-1 victory over its host, South Sudan.
The Egyptian national team will meet in the second round with South Sudan next Tuesday in Juba.
The home team had an opportunity in the 20th minute following a corner kick taken by captain Mohamed Salah, who ended it with a shot from inside the penalty area, but goalkeeper Hugo Marquez blocked it.
Mustafa Abdel Raouf “Zico” scored a goal for Egypt in the 22nd minute, but the referee ruled it out for offside.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan made a change before the end of the first half by bringing in Omar Marmoush instead of Mahmoud Saber to increase offensive capabilities.
The two teams exchanged attacks at the beginning of the second half, and the danger was for the visitors.
In the 62nd minute, Imam Ashour fired a shot that went over the crossbar.
Then the duo Hamza Abdel Karim and Ahmed Sayed “Zizou” participated instead of Salah and Haitham Hassan.
Egypt increased the offensive pressure in the final minutes in an attempt to score the winning goal against a defensive organization from Angola.
Marmoush almost scored the lead goal for Egypt in the last minute, but the goalkeeper excelled and blocked his attempt.
Some English Premier League clubs have begun hiring lawyers to discuss opportunities to obtain compensation as a result of Manchester City's conviction for financial fair play violations.
Earlier Friday, The Athletic newspaper indicated that Manchester City had been convicted of committing 114 of the 115 financial violations charged against it, which increases the pressure on the English club, with a number of English Premier League clubs examining the possibility of taking legal measures against it to obtain compensation.
The newspaper also reported that several clubs have already hired lawyers to discuss opportunities to obtain compensation, and the pace of these discussions is currently increasing, after some clubs believe that they may have suffered sporting and financial damages if Manchester City’s violations caused them to be deprived of qualification for the Champions League or lose sponsorship revenues.
This case may be reminiscent of what happened in the incident between Everton and Burnley, after an independent committee issued a decision last June obliging Everton to pay 35.1 million pounds sterling (40.8 million euros) to Burnley, after concluding that Everton’s violation of the rules of profitability and sustainability gave it a sporting advantage.
However, any potential legal action against Manchester City will have to be postponed until the end of the appeal proceedings relating to the current case.
According to “The Athletic”, the possibility of filing a class action suit involving a number of English Premier League clubs against Manchester City is being considered, if the damages suffered as a result of the violations in question are confirmed.
