Former part of the France hopefuls team, Amine Gouiri is about to opt for the Algerian selection. “Administratively, it’s settled,” confirmed Djamel Belmadi on Tuesday.
Algerian international Amine Gouiri, it’s coming soon! Djamel Belmadi, the Fennecs coach, confirmed on Tuesday that everything was on track for the Stade Rennais striker. “Administratively, it’s settled”even announced the winner of CAN 2019.
Gouiri officially selectable for the Greens of Algeria #TeamDZ pic.twitter.com/O6HZyUis51
— DZfoot (@DZfoot) September 5, 2023
The change of sporting nationality would be a big blow for the French team, and would deprive Didier Deschamps (and his successors) of a good option in attack for the years to come. The player trained in Lyon wore the blue jersey in all categories of young people (U16, U17, U18, U19 and U20), and he was a taulier of the hopeful team of Sylvain Ripoll (31 selections, 12 goals with the Bleuets ). He had never been called up to the A’s before, where Randal Kolo Muani, Marcus Thuram or even Christopher Nkunku were preferred to him.
On the other hand, if Gouiri was an executive with the Espoirs, this information of the day does not change much for Thierry Henry. Born in 2000, Gouiri was not selectable for the next Euro espoirs (reserved for players born in 2002 or later) or for the Paris Olympic Games (where players born in 2001 and later are eligible). His only option to compete in the Olympics would have been to be among the three “jokers” authorized for each selection, a status that Kylian Mbappé particularly covets, and other more experienced players (Varane, Griezmann, Lloris, etc.) would no doubt have gone ahead. Gouiri.
