In 2001, on October 6 to be exact, the Blues hosted Algeria at the Stade de France. But the meeting quickly turned sour, since many fans invaded the pitch. The match hadn’t even finished. A real fiasco. Since then, the two nations have not crossed paths. Passing through Algeria, for a After exceptionally delocalized, the consultants of RMC Sport discussed with Djamel Belmadi a potential poster between the two countries. “It was on the table (the subject) at the time of Mr Zetchi and Mr Le Graët”confides the Algerian coach.
“They had met several times. Le Graët had spoken about it, at least privately to Mr. Zetchi, but also publicly. It was something he really wanted to do. If only for the competitive aspect, to gauge yourself. Facing the finalists of the last World Cup, one of the best teams in the world… We want to play against the best. By going to play in Senegal (in a friendly match on Tuesday in Dakar, editor’s note), we are not looking for ease. Playing against France yes… there are a lot of dual nationals, we all have a link with France. It’s a match that many would like to see one day.”. The message got through. For more than 20 years, the two national selections have avoided each other after the fiasco of 2001, but there is no doubt that a confrontation between the latter would attract a very large audience.
