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The Ivorians, Wilfried Kanon (No. 22) and Serey Dié (20) and Algerians Yacine Brahimi and Riyad Mahrez at the CAN 2015. Four years later, they find themselves in Egypt. AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO

Algeria, the best team since the start of CAN 2019, faces Ivory Coast, inconstant and almost miraculously in the round of 16. This is a semi-final place that is played this Thursday, July 11 in Suez (16h, UT), and the very recent history of the CAN, with the eliminations of Morocco and Egypt, recalls if necessary, that Favorite status is not all-risk insurance.

From our special envoy to Suez,

What can happen to this Algeria against Côte d'Ivoire? On the one hand, the Fennecs with the perfect course: four victories in four matches (Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Guinea), 9 goals scored, zero cashed. On the other, elephants with heavy footsteps: difficult victory against South Africa (1-0), defeat in front of Morocco (0-1), success in trompe-l'oeil in front of a weak Namibia (4- 1), and a very happy qualification against Mali in the round of 16 (1-0).

Yes, Algeria, by far, favorite in front of Ivory Coast on the eve of this quarterfinal of CAN 2019, but Maro C and Egypt were also hyper favorites against Benin and Africa. South. We know more ... And Squirrels and Bafana Bafana did not have the pedigree of Ivory Coast, double champion of Africa (1992, 2015).

This is probably why the coach of Algeria, Djamel Belmadi said he was " confident ", but also " suspicious " to meet the men of Ibrahim Kamara. The latter assumes his status as outsider and promises that his team will " do everything to achieve this goal to pass the quarter-finals ."

Does Côte d'Ivoire have the means? She did not necessarily face Mali, and yet she passed by applying a simple recipe : stay strong in defense and be realistic in attack. This Ivorian team is still looking, its game is illegible, but it has attackers who can score at any time. And when we get ready to suffer in front of Fennecs, it's already a good start for this team whose coach constantly reminds youth.

Twelve survivors of 2015 ...

If Nicolas Pepe still runs behind his first goal of the CAN, Kodja was decisive against South Africa (1-0) and Wilfried Zaha against Mali (1-0), and on the bench await Maxwell Cornet, Max Alain Gradel and Wilfried Bony. The strong striker Al Arabi (Qatar) remains on three goals against Algeria at the African Cup and was the executioner of the Fennec s in the quarterfinals of the CAN 2015 with a double on the road of the sacred Ivorian .

Six Elephants (Gbohouo, Aurier, Kanon, Dié, Gradel and Bony) and six Fennecs (Mbolhi, Mandi, Mahrez, Feghouli, Slimani, and Brahimi) were present in this quarter-final of the Equatorial Guinean CAN. Four years later, did the data really change? The answer is probably in the feet of Fennecs for this eighth confrontation at the CAN between Algeria and Ivory Coast. The Elephants are historically ahead (three wins, two losses and two draws). Thursday, Algeria intends to set the record straight.

READ ► CAN 2019: Calendar, results and standings of the Africa Cup