Nations of Africa for the locals.. The title is between Algeria and Senegal

The host Algerian national team and Senegal are looking for their first title in the African Nations Cup for football for local players, when they meet Saturday in the final match at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.
Algeria reached the final without conceding a goal, after sweeping Niger 5-0 in the semi-finals, while Senegal beat Madagascar 1-0.
The tournament started on the thirteenth of January with the participation of 17 teams after the withdrawal of Morocco, the holder of the title of the last two editions, due to Algeria closing its airspace to Moroccan aircraft since September 2021, as the Moroccan Federation pledged its participation in the tournament by traveling on a direct flight to the Algerian city of Constantine on a Moroccan plane. .
This is the first time that the “Desert Warriors” reach the final match, in their second participation, after they finished fourth in the second edition in 2011.
The Algerian national team aspires to become the fourth team from the north of the continent to win the title after Tunisia (2011), Libya (2014) and Morocco (2018 and 2020).
On its way to the final, the Algerian national team topped Group A with three victories, 1-0, over Libya, Ethiopia and Mozambique, and in the quarter-finals it passed Ivory Coast with a clean goal as well.
“The atmosphere at Nelson Mandela Stadium is very special. I don’t think our players hear my instructions much because of the noise. But I like it,” coach Madjid Bougherra told the official CAF website.
Bougherra, the captain of Algeria during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when it reached the second round for the first time in its history, seeks to give his country a new title 14 months after winning the Arab Cup in Qatar.
He responded to critics after the semi-final five, “We are happy to score five goals. When we started this tournament, we kept hearing people criticizing the national team, and sometimes we have to accept what is being said.”
He continued, “We know that the people love to see us win, and we know that they are proud of our players… We are excited enough to win the match. We want to win in 90 minutes… My dream is for us to win the title.”

Senegal is proud of its continental balance

For its part, the Senegalese national team, located in the west of the continent, is seeking to combine the two continental titles for the national teams, after the first team was crowned African Cup of Nations champions a year ago at the expense of its Egyptian counterpart, with a penalty shootout, led by star Sadio Mane.
Senegal continues to qualify for the finals of continental competitions, such as the Nations Cup in 2019 and 2021, the 2022 Beach Soccer Final, and the Under-20 Cup on three occasions between 2015 and 2019.
The Senegalese team topped the second group in the first round with six points, after two victories over Ivory Coast 1-0 and the Democratic Republic of the Congo 3-0, between them a loss against Uganda with a goal, and in the quarter-finals it defeated its Mauritanian counterpart with a single goal.
“We want our country to be proud of us, and we want to return to Senegal with the title,” said coach Bab Tiaw, one of the players in the Senegal squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and conceded a single goal in the tournament.
Regarding Algeria’s upcoming match in the stadium, which can accommodate forty thousand spectators, he added to the CAF website, “We will face a team supported by its fans, but the final remains the final in their country or elsewhere, and Algeria loves beautiful matches. We will determine the strategy that we will adopt, because the final is won and not played.” .
In turn, midfielder Lamine Kamara, the best player in the semi-finals, said, “We have been sleeping for 11 years, and now we will play the final.”
The 20-year-old continued, “They beat us in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt (0-1 in 2019). There is no revenge or anything. It’s a new match, a new final, and we want to win it.”