Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi revealed the secret of Andy Delors' absence from the Greens squad for the Niger match tomorrow, Friday, in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and justified the way Pep Guardiola, coach of Manchester City, dealt with Riyad Mahrez.
Belmadi said in a press conference today, Thursday, "Delor was in the current list like the rest of the players, but he asked to be absent from the African Nations Cup in Cameroon early next year due to focus with his club, Nice, and then absent from the national team for a whole year."
"I heard this talk a month ago, and this was confirmed to me by the sports director of the Nice team, but the French press is talking about it without information," he added.
Belmadi stressed that his main goal is to qualify for the World Cup, saying, "Not qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar is a failure for me, and there is no point in talking now about renewing my contract without qualifying for the World Cup."
The Algerian national team lost once in 4 years led by Belmadi, and it was against Benin.
Guardiola and Mahrez
In justifying the way Guardiola dealt with the "greens" captain Mahrez, as he is often ignored in the starting lineup of the Premier League champion, Belmadi said, "Mahrez is undoubtedly happy with his position in his team, as is the case of Issa Mandy (Villarreal's Spanish defender), because he simply wants to participate in every match."
He added, "Guardiola is not Algerian, and he does not look at Riyad as we look at him, and he deals with the group of players he owns. Mahrez plays an important number of matches if we compare him with the rest of our players. Personally, when he plays one match every week, this makes me happy and suffices me."
On the other hand, Belmadi admitted the difficulties that defender Issa Mandy has faced since his move to Villarreal, due to his lack of participation with his new team, but he stressed that he is not worried about his future like Mahrez.
In response to a question about Said Benrahma's brilliance with his team, West Ham United, compared to his level with the national team, Belmadi said, "We trust Benrahma a lot. He seeks to provide the best performance with his club and country."
Algeria, the 2019 African champion, leads the first group with 4 points, from two matches, ahead of Burkina Faso, while Niger comes third with 3 points, and finally Djibouti without points.