Od 24 sudionice ovogodišnjeg Afričkog kupa nacija preostale su još samo dvije koje će u petak navečer od 21 sat odlučiti o novom kontinentalnom prvaku. To su reprezentacije Senegala i Alžira, a po svemu što smo do sada imali priliku vidjeti, doista je riječ o dvije najkvalitetnije selekcije Afrike u ovom trenutku. Stadion International u egipatskom glavnom gradu Kairu bit će poprište prilično neizvjesnog i podjednakog dvoboja. Momčadi su po kladionicama prilično jednako rangirane pa se postavlja pitanje hoće li do trofeja stići Sadio Mane ili Riyad Mahrez koji su dvije najveće zvijezde u ovim reprezentacijama.
Senegal and Algeria have practically equal chances to win this year’s edition of the African Cup of Nations. If we only look at the coefficients, for example in the B-Bets bookmaker. On the victory of Senegal, the coefficient is 2.80, while on Algeria it is slightly higher and amounts to 2.90. That this match will end in a draw after 90 minutes and go to extra time, the rate is 3.15. Double sign on Senegal is 1.44 while X2 is currently at odds of 1.47. All this speaks in favor of the fact that the starting positions of both teams are equal and that even the bookmakers themselves find it difficult to predict who will become the new champion of the “Black Continent”. This will be a replay of the match from ten days ago, when Algeria was better in the groups with a score of 1:0. Even before the start of the competition , we wrote that these are two rather serious selections.
Everything is going according to plan for Senegal
For the Lions of Taranga, this competition has gone quite well so far, so it’s no surprise that they made it to the finals. This will be an opportunity for Senegal’s first trophy at the Africa Cup of Nations. They never managed to win this competition, and they only played in the final once. It was in 2002 when Senegal had a famous generation led by Cisse, Diop and Diouf, which in the same year reached the top eight in the world as a debutant at the World Cup in Japan and Korea. But even that great generation lost the AFCON final against Cameroon on penalties.
Now is a never better opportunity to fix that result, and coach Aliou Cisse knows that best, who himself was a participant in the final 17 years ago, but also the tragic figure of that match when he missed the last penalty in the shootout. Now the question is how much Cisse, this time as a coach, will be able to reduce the pressure on his players because it is clear that they are once again within reach of the greatest success in their football history.
Senegal – Algeria / By mohsen nabil / Shutterstock.com
Senegal conceded only one goal at this championship, and only Algeria managed to do that when these two teams met in the second group round in a match that would later turn out to be a prelude to this final. Earlier, in the first round, Senegal beat Tanzania 2:0, and a little later in the third, Kenya won 3:0. In the round of 16, they eliminated Uganda with 1:0, and then Benin with the same score in the quarterfinals. Tunisia was waiting for them in the semi-final, the match was not easy at all as the Senegalese might have expected. After the 90th minute, it ended without goals, although both teams had one penalty kick that they failed to use. That’s why Senegal took advantage of a gift from the Tunisian defense in the 100th minute of the game and took a 1:0 lead. It stayed that way until the end, and VAR prevented Tunisia from getting another penalty kick a few minutes before the end of the game.
Algeria has been waiting for the title for three decades
And while Senegal is waiting for its first African Championship title, Algeria is hoping to reach its second. It was back in 1990 when the competition was played on their field, and their best result since then until this final was fourth place in 2010. In the eighties of the last century, they had one of the strongest national teams in Africa, and it’s a real miracle that they didn’t manage to win this competition a few more times. However, they finished second in 1980, third in 1984 and 1988, and fourth in 1982. Mahrez, Feghouli, Ounas and Mandi will surely be hoping this is the moment to repeat the North African side’s greatest success of 1990. They rightly hope so, as they have already beaten their opponent once in this tournament.
By mohsen nabil/ Shutterstock.com
We have already said that Senegal is the only team that has conceded only one goal in the competition so far. Algeria received two of them, and the advantage of the Desert Foxes is that they are the only undefeated team so far. They opened the competition one hundred percent and in the first round they beat Kenya 2:0, then Senegal 1:0 and Tanzania 3:0. In the round of 16, Guinea also lost 3:0. The quarter-finals brought a test against the Ivory Coast, and it was this match when Algeria conceded the first goal in its own net. It ended 1:1, and Algeria was better in the penalty shootout. It was thought that their semi-final match against Nigeria would also end 1:1, but then Mahrez, deep in stoppage time, placed the ball for a free kick about twenty meters from the goal and pierced the Nigerian goalkeeper. All of Algeria could start celebrating,
Who is better throughout history?
We have already pointed out several times that the last meeting of these two national teams took place ten days ago and that Algeria won 1:0, but these two national teams have also played numerous other matches throughout history. The Desert Foxes are far more successful in head-to-head matches with as many as 13 wins in 21 games. Senegal has only four wins, and five times ended in a draw. The Lions of Teranga tied their only four victories in the period from 2001 to 2008, when they really had a better team than Algeria. In the last five meetings between them, Algeria has four wins and only one draw.
What to bet on?
Both teams have granite defenses, so there is a clear recommendation for a game with less than 2.5 goals within 90 minutes. The coefficient is 1.42 in the b-Bets bookmaker , but if you try to play with less than 1.5 goals, the rate will be slightly higher, ie 2.33. If you are going to guess the first scorer in the match, try some light surprises, such as the Senegalese Mbaye Niang with odds of 6.40 or the Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah with odds of 7.40.