Hard Luck for
Algeria; Success for 'Children of Uncle Sam'
"The Americans, be they from
Beverly Hills, Nebraska, Ohio or the Bronx, were kept breathless by a small
team from Algeria, which they couldn't even find on the map. ... It was a triumph - let us admit - for the children of Uncle Sam."
Politics and sport: Algerians are very proud of their national team, in part for the political statements its victories represent. At the 2010 World Cup, eliminating England and America was seen as a way of standing up for Palestinians in Gaza.
Thanks and see you soon. That's
certainly one way of naming our editorial page, which describes the path of the
Algerian players in the World Cup. How to outline this most unexpected stage in
the history of our national team? From the beginning, the team was a
heterogeneous lot - second generation Algerians born to immigrants with diverse
European backgrounds, profoundly devoted to their country of origin, Algeria - all
of whom had the merit to spur emotion, regardless of whether it was inside the
tony residences of Hydra, El Biar and Moretti, or the difficult to pronounce suburbs
of Batna, Tlemcen, Souk Akhras, Annaba and Laghouat.
We can say thank you to all
those little green men coming mostly from Europe and who claim, to our great
honor, that they are more Algerian than the Algerians, or as Karim Ziani said,
“One thousand percent [Algerian].” That is an honorable and legitimate national
sentiment, even if others will tell you that going three matches without a victory
and particularly without a goal aren't worthy of the name. Why conclude such a
thing, when at the beginning (we must remind the most amnesiac among us), it
was only about qualifying for the Africa Cup?
Then [last November], we had bloody Cairo and the intensely followed match in Omdurman (Sudan), which has already been inscribed into the legend of the national team
and which was, according to my humble opinion, created the biggest leap in the
team's “spontaneous popularity” since the claims of October 1988. But this time, the Algerian government was on the right side of events and sent logistical
support. [The Algerian government offered aircraft for the team's supporters heading
to Sudan].
Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US
[Editor’s note: The author refers
to Algeria's victory over Egypt in the World Cup qualifier last November. Matches were played
in Cairo and Sudan, Algerian players were attacked in Cairo and there was tremendous tension between the two
countries.]
In the end, the Greens were
eliminated from the World Cup, but at least they attracted the world's
recognition: where diplomacy had failed, our football ambassadors succeeded in giving
a much clearer picture of the government's political positions. Belittled at
the international level, the Greens (as we affectingly call them) forced respect
from the Arab world, or simply the world.
The Americans, be they from
Beverly Hills, Nebraska, Ohio or the Bronx, were kept breathless by a small
team from Algeria, which they couldn't even find on the map. Today it is done:
what politics failed to establish, football has. There are two aspects to this
issue:
Game
over: Landon Donovan after scoring the winning goal
against
Algeria in their World Cup match, June 23. The
Americans won 1-0.
First, the Greens put in a
creditable performance given the courage they showed throughout the match,
until mainly in the second half, they were exposed to the bludgeoning of the
Americans - fortunately, without much U.S. success. Until the 91st minute. It
was a triumph - let us admit - for the children of Uncle Sam, even if there was
an open door for the legendary Saiifi,
whose header ended in the hands of the American goalkeeper.
Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US
Second is the consolation
prize: True, we lost an excellent opportunity to reach the second round, but
analysts and consultants on all sides (who have proliferated during the World
Cup on TVs, radios and newspapers) will tell you that, on the contrary, Algeria
has shown itself to be “a team for the future.” We'd like to believe that,
because in that future, we will have to reenter the cauldron of hot fields in
Africa and beyond. This is (with or without coach Saadane) another story that
the national press will not fail to invest in. See you soon Greens …
