Algerian writer shares why KC fans should root for his nation’s team in World Cup
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- Abdelli says football is Algeria’s primary sport and in their DNA.
- The Équipe FLN formed in 1958 and played more than 100 matches.
- Abdelli says Algerians are not scared of big teams like Argentina.
As the defending World Cup champions with Lionel Messi leading the way, Argentina is the most recognizable team playing in Kansas City.
Soccer passions run deep for fans of the Albiceleste (”the white and sky blue”) in Argentina.
But the team that lines up against Argentina on Tuesday at Kansas City Stadium (née Arrowhead Stadium) also has a fervent fan base.
“We are crazy about football,” Algerian journalist Yani Abdelli of La Gazette du Fennec said in a phone interview. “It’s the first sport in our country. It’s football, and after is maybe handball, but the first is football. Everywhere, in every city in Algeria, you see children, they play football. Football is in our DNA.”
That may sound like a tired cliché, but soccer was a driving force behind Algeria’s independence. While Algeria was still a French colony, the Algerian War began in 1954. Four years later, a dozen players secretly left their French club teams to form an independent Algerian team to help spread word of the revolution.
“On the night of 4 April 1958, just two months before the start of the World Cup ... Algerian players disappeared from France,” Josh Sippie wrote on the These Football Time website. “They left behind teammates, friends, families and professional careers in the name of their national identity. The plan was to reconvene in Tunisia, making it quite the perilous journey. If any hint of what they were doing reached the authorities, the entire effort would collapse.
“France international Rachid Mekhloufi, for instance, was carrying out his military duty in the European nation at the time. To leave could be construed as deserting – and he wasn’t the only one in that predicament.”
Two Algerian players who left the country were going to start for France’s 1958 World Cup squad, that story noted. One who left was caught and spent a year in prison. Others were threatened with a 10-year sentence. Nevertheless, the rest of the players met in Tunisia and formed the Équipe FLN squad that played more than 100 matches in a four-year span.
One of those players, Mohamed Maouche, told the BBC in 2017 that those games spread the word of Algeria’s war for independence.
“We were the first ambassadors of the revolution and the Algerian people,” Maouche said in that story. “Because most people did not know that there was a real war in Algeria. We spoke to people after the match and the next day there were interviews and that’s how they discovered Algeria. We were true ambassadors.”
Thanks in part to the effort of those soccer players, Algeria gained its independence on July 5, 1962.
More than 60 years later, the story of the first Algerian soccer team remains on the minds of its citizens.
“Football was our diplomacy for showing others that we want our own (country) because we were under French colonization,” Abdelli said.
“It’s a very important point that shows our link between Algerian people and football. This is a part of our story. Football is a part of our story. That’s why you can see all these people playing football.”
The ‘Shame Match’
If that’s not reason enough for your support, how about this: Algeria was on the wrong end of perhaps the most unjust moment in World Cup history.
Algeria made its World Cup debut in 1982 and stunned two-time champion West Germany 2-1 in its opening match. After losing its second game, Algeria beat Chile a day before West Germany faced Austria. Those European sides knew that a German victory by no more than 2-0 would advance both teams based on goal differential.
Germany scored in the 10th minute and neither side made an effort to threaten after that.
“In 1982, it was our first appearance in the World Cup,” Abdelli said. “It was historic. We didn’t go to the second leg because Germany and Austria, you can see it on Google if you want, but we call that the ‘Shame Match.’”
Around the world, it was called the “Disgrace of Gijón” after the Spanish city where the match was held.
FIFA changed how the World Cup was played after that, as the final two games in each group now take place at the same time.
Algeria is part of another piece of soccer lore, but this a positive one. During the 1987 European Cup, FC Porto defeated Bayern Munich 2-1. Porto’s first goal was scored by Algerian star Rabah Madjer. His backheel shot caught the fancy of fans.
“He scored in the final with a goal that made history,” Abdelli said. “This type of goal is called a Madjer.”
World Cup history
Algeria also appeared in the World Cup in 1986, 2010 and 2014 and played a few notable games.
In 2010, Algeria tied England and nearly drew with the United States — but Landon Donovan scored one of America’s most famous World Cup goals at the end of the game.
Four years later, Algeria advanced from the group stage and pushed eventual champion Germany to extra time in the Round of 16 before falling 2-1.
Strong showings against Germany, England and the U.S. in past World Cups help explain why Abdelli believes Algeria won’t be intimidated when facing Argentina next week in Kansas City.
“When you look at Algeria, when facing big teams, we are not scared about big teams,” he said. “So we go, we play our game, we are focused. We respect our opponents, of course. Always we respect our opponents, but we are not scared. ...
“Argentina is a famous team and one of the best teams ever, but we’re not scared.”
