Algeria -
Algerian coach Rabah Saadane opened several files and topics in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, and expected that "the World Cup in Qatar will enter history from its widest doors."
Saadane - nicknamed in Algeria as "the sheikh of coaches" - opened his heart and the reservoir of his memories and experiences to Al Jazeera Net, and saw that the Algerian team "only bears the responsibility for exclusion" from participating in the upcoming World Cup finals in Qatar, and attributed this to the "fatal mistakes made by the team" in The return match against Cameroon.
Given that Rabah Saadane, the most Algerian coach participating in the world finals in 3 previous times (1982, 1986 and 2010), returned to its scenes, and revealed the most stations in his training career that remained firmly in his mind and even the ones he regretted.
Saadane defended his compatriot Riyad Mahrez, describing him as "the pride of Algeria." Communication and some local media in the following dialogue:
The Qatar World Cup will be the best in history
Given your great experience in the World Cup, how do you see Qatar hosting the World Cup as the first Arab and Middle Eastern country?
Will you pass this global test?
What is certain about the World Cup finals that will be held in Qatar from the media point of view is that there is a special and very great confidence, especially as it is linked to preserving the reputation of football in the world, as all people wait for this date every 4 years.
Qatar, God willing, has honored the Arabs and all Muslims as it prepares to embrace this great football date, and it is certain that it will be successful, and for example only, we saw and attended the Arab Cup, and how good the organization was, and surely it will improve more in the World Cup, and the Arab Cup was only an organizational experience from The International Football Association and the organizing country Qatar, to identify any organizational deficiency to remedy it a year before the World Cup.
I believe that the Qatar World Cup will be one of the best World Cup finals that have ever been organized, and Qatar has all the organizational capabilities, in terms of stadiums, hotels and management, and it is certain that the Qatar World Cup will remain in history as the best version of all the previous World Cup finals.
According to my follow-up to its preparations, I am sure that Qatar will honor all Arabs and Muslims.
What are your expectations for the Arab and African teams participating in the World Cup in Qatar?
I think that all the Arab teams participating in the World Cup in Qatar are strong, and evidence of this is also their local championships, which have all entered professionalism, and the best players in their clubs participate with their teams.
The Arab teams also have professional players in Europe, who are accustomed to this atmosphere of play and pressures similar to the World Cup, and I see that everything is available because these Arab teams compete strongly in each group.
It also plays in an Arab country, and it is certain that the public attendance will help it a lot, especially the fans of the Qatar national team, and it is certain that the Arab teams will not find a better place than Qatar to compete strongly.
The preparatory period for the teams is also very important, and among the most important measures is that for the first time the World Cup will be held in the winter, because the physical preparation of the players is very high, in addition to the preparatory weeks before participating in the World Cup are very important, and this is the role of the technical staff of each team as well The medical officer, who bears a great responsibility, so that he enters the team strongly and that the players are at the highest level.
What do you think of the groups of Arab teams and the most difficult among them?
In the World Cup, it cannot be said that the groups in which the Arab teams are located are difficult, because they are in the World Cup and are among the best teams in the world, and upon reaching the organizing country, the technical staff and players must be liberated and convinced that they are among the best teams in the world, and that they play their matches without No knot, I think this is important.
We saw how Ghana reached the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, and it was not one of the strong teams at the time, but the players' enthusiasm and psychological motivation gave them exceptional strength that brought them to this historic role.
What I mean is that the most important point for all participating Arab teams is the psychological aspect, which is achieved through good psychological preparation of the players.
Like Ghana, which teams are closest to achieving a surprise in the World Cup in Qatar?
The World Cup is not always without surprises and fluctuations in results, and it is not possible to predict the teams that will achieve surprises until after the first and second matches in the group stage, where the extent to which these teams can go is evaluated or predicted.
The evaluation is based on several criteria;
Including the team having an integrated defensive and offensive group with individual solutions available, and the most important thing is that all players in the team - whether they are mains or substitutes - be prepared at the highest level, because the tournament extends for about a month and requires replacements at the level of those on the field to achieve continuity.
Do you support the experience of Tunisia and Morocco, which are led by local coaches in the World Cup in Qatar, or do you prefer the foreign coach?
For me, there is no difference between a local or a foreign coach. The coach of the national team is based on his experiences and expertise, and it is certain that the coach who participated in many World Cup tournaments is the best in the World Cup, because he knows very well how to prepare his team psychologically 3 weeks before the start of the matches, and how he conducts each Official match according to the circumstances of each match.
Based on your long experience as a coach for Algeria, what are the reasons for excluding the Greens from the World Cup and who bears the responsibility?
What happened was a collective mistake for us, the Algerians, and we cannot blame any party. We have a strong team that won the first leg match away from home, but it neglected this advantage and lost the return match at its home;
So we can only blame ourselves.
I remember that we made the same mistake in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, but we did not learn the lesson, and we repeated the mistake in 2022, and this is the second time in a row that we will not participate in the World Cup finals, and it is very difficult for us.
I think that the negative results and the early exit from the 2022 African Nations Cup harmed the team a lot psychologically, and exit from the World Cup may be one of its repercussions.
It was a big blow, but since it was all done, this page must be turned and we must reconsider and look to the future.
Belmadi cries after Algeria lost to Cameroon and the latter qualified for the World Cup in Qatar (European)
Do you expect coach Djamel Belmadi to succeed in returning Algeria to the path of championships after the disappointment of the World Cup?
Certainly, we (the Algerian national team) turned the page, because we did not reach the goals we had hoped for, especially qualifying for the World Cup.
Now, we are facing a new page, and Jamal Belmadi has enough time, as he had when he came to the national team, to reconfigure a team with renewal, and certainly according to what he lived through during the previous 4 years he spent with the national team, and he will surely know what the mistakes are until he starts a new page in a way Gradual and not from scratch.
He has 3 years ahead of him, until the Algerian team qualifies for the upcoming African Cup finals and also the World Cup finals. We wish all the best for this team, and the journey is very long, and what matters to us is stability and continuity, and God willing, it will be good.
Do you agree with the views that say that Riyad Mahrez's level with the Algerian national team is lower than that of Manchester City?
(He responds, laughing) .. Most of those who say this do not understand football, firstly, Riyad Mahrez is the pride of Algeria and plays for one of the best teams in the world, and was nominated many times as the best player in England, and this is not a small thing.
People must understand that the player is human and cannot be in full physical and technical fitness at all times, as he faces pressure in his club, and great pressure with the national team, which is compounded by these incorrect accusations.
Let's go back to history a little, and what are the highlights of your leadership of the Greens in the three World Cup finals?
One of the most prominent scenes of what happened in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, as the credit for qualifying was not only for the technical leadership and players, but for the then Sports Minister, Jamal El-Din Houhou, because he imposed on the International Football Association (FIFA) the appointment of a European referee in our first match against Nigeria in Lagos and we won In it 2-0, and at that time the International Federation was refusing to appoint a European referee for any match in Africa, but he succeeded through correspondence in changing the position of FIFA.
As for the 2010 World Cup, we did not have a strong team like the Egyptian national team, but our players were not afraid to face it, and even playing in Cairo under terrible pressure and with a biased judgment for them as well, it was not easy at all.
The Algerian team was more liberated after playing the play-off against Egypt in Omdurman (Sudan), which the Egyptians did not expect, especially after our two-goal loss in Cairo, and we prepared the players psychologically, especially since the opponents know that the Algerians are quick to anger, and we did a very big job so that the players forget what happened For us in Egypt, especially since the play-off match was only 5 days after the Cairo match, and we succeeded in winning and qualifying for the World Cup against the best team thanks to the spirit that distinguished the Greens in the match.
Rabah Saadane carried on his neck after beating Egypt in Omdurman and qualifying for the 2010 World Cup (Algerian press)
How true is the news circulating for a while about your retirement from training?
“I did not retire and do not grieve”, there are some details that I do not want to go into, but there are people guided by God from officials and parties who were behind these rumors with the aim of destroying my name and my experience, as many training offers were coming to me, but through the Algerian Football Federation, and some of its officials were talking In my name, they say that I quit training.
What is the story of the repeated rumors about your death?
This rumor has been repeated 4 times, how can someone who launched it belittle people's lives and claim their death?!
This caused problems for me because I had family, friends and loved ones everywhere who would get upset and call me every time.