South Africa became the first team to score against Algeria in open play since the TotalEnergies 2011 CHAN tournament, held in Sudan. Thabiso Kutumela’s clinical finish on the stroke of half-time earned South Africa a 1-1 draw against Algeria in South Africa’s tournament opener, which, however, was Algeria’s second game of the competition.
The last meeting between these two was at the 2011 quarter-finals. The Algerians won 2-0, with goals from Hocine Metref and Maiza, and since then, they have maintained a strong defensive record. In fact, the last player to breach Algeria’s defense was Sudan’s Mudather Karika, who scored a 37th-minute goal in the third-place playoff in the 2011 edition.
Similar Fortunes
Both national teams have had similar fortunes in the TotalEnergies CHAN tournament. South Africa played only one more CHAN as hosts in 2014 before this year’s edition, while Algeria hosted the 2022 CHAN and didn’t concede any goals in open play, making this their third TotalEnergies CHAN competitions for both teams.
Fierce defensive block put to the test
Algeria’s strong defensive record was put to the test on Friday’s encounter against South Africa, and although they took the lead through Abdennour Belhocini’s composed strike, Kutumela’s goal snapped their clean sheet streak.
The outcome of the game sets the stage for an exciting Group C, with several teams vying for a spot in the next round. If Thabiso Kutumela’s goal remains the only one Algeria concedes in Group C and they continue to display their firepower, they stand a good chance of advancing to the next round, either as group leaders or runners-up, depending on the group dynamics. Group C is now wide open, and the upcoming matches are expected to be intense and closely contested.
In the second game of the day, Uganda smashed Niger 3-0 to revive their hope of progressing from the group stage of the tournament. That win was a perfect respond to losing by the same score to Algeria in the opening match day.
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