Portrait
CHAN 2023: Madjid Bougherra, in the footsteps of a mentor named Belmadi
Madjid Bougherra, on the right, coach of the Algerian local football team.
© Pierre René-Worms
Text by: Ndiasse Sambe Follow
3 mins
The coach of the local Algerian team, Madjid Bougherra, has qualified his team for the final of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) and dreams of offering the trophy to the country.
A great consecration in perspective, but above all a step in the career of the ex-captain of the Fennecs who aims, in the long term, to take the A selection led by his mentor Djamel Belmadi.
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A programmed ascent or a destiny mapped out.
Those who know or have followed Madjid Bougherra's career in the Algerian team are not surprised to see the player swapping the Fennecs jersey for the A' team coach's tracksuit today.
Player, the native of Dijon embodied, for many years, the
grinta
, the sense of duty and Algerian-style patriotism.
He thus very early responded to the requests of the Algerian Federation, at the age of 21 in the hopeful team, before becoming an executive and captain of the selection during his 11 years and 70 caps with the Fennecs.
Finding him at the head of the local national team is anything but a coincidence.
"
He's a child of the national team, he's a child of the Federation, he's a child of Algeria
, said at the microphone of RFI, speaking of
Madjid Bougherra
, Djahid Zefizef, the president of the Algerian Football Federation.
He is full of enthusiasm, full of availability.
It's been a very long time since we developed a bond, when he was a player first, and now that he has become a coach.
He does a good job.
He has a great future with his country and the Federation
.
»
Madjid Bougherra with the Green jersey in 2013. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE DESMAZES
On a CHAN mission
The path was all traced for the ex-colossus (1.90 m, 90 kg) of the central defense of Algeria who, as soon as the crampons were put away in 2017, passed his coaching diplomas.
He thus begins to smell the air of the selection as an adviser to Georges Leekens, the coach of the Fennecs at the time.
“
My goal is to allow a good relationship between the coach and the players I am very close to
,” he confided to RFI on the eve of CAN 2017.
Since then, the best Algerian player of the years 2009 and 2010 has risen through the ranks before settling at the head of the A team for CHAN.
“
He is a coach who is very close to his players, he talks to us a lot about the experience he has had at international or club level.
He knows what he is talking about, ”
testifies today the goalkeeper of the local team, Alexis Guendouz.
For this competition, Madjid Bougherra is on a mission.
That of making supporters forget a painful year 2022, marked by the elimination in the first round of the CAN and a non-participation in the World Cup.
The perfect course of the Greens under the aegis of Madjid Bougherra:
5 games
5 wins
5 clean sheets
9 goals scored
🇩🇿👑 pic.twitter.com/aPgSp4832n
– Le Fennec (@LeFennecFC) January 31, 2023
This Saturday, the
hero of the qualification for the 2014 World Cup
, decisive scorer against Burkina on the last day of the qualifiers, has the opportunity to steal the show from the national coach,
Djamel Belmadi, "statified"
since the victory at the CAN in 2019 .
A victory would certainly be a first step towards succeeding the man who was his club coach (Lekhwiya, Qatar), who gave him his chance at Al-Duhai by entrusting him with the under-23 team, and who hacked to take the Olympic selection before that of the A '.
Madjid Bougharra does not deny this ambition, but postpones it.
"
Whether it's Djamel Belmadi or me, we give everything to move forward
," he said at a press conference after the semi-final
Algeria-Niger (5-0)
.
For the A's, Belmadi has objectives for 2026, me, you have to forget me for 4 or 5 years, I still need to learn, I only have six years of experience
.
»
CHAN 2023 in Algeria: African Nations Football Championship schedule and results
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