Algeria bemoan lack of fire power for World Cup ouster

By Samm Audu Jun 24, 2010, 8:26 GMT

Pretoria - Algeria became the fourth African team to bow out of the World Cup with the country's veteran coach Rabah Saadane lamenting his team's lack of cutting edge in front of goal.

The 'Desert Foxes' created several chances in their final Group C match against the United States at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Wednesday, but failed to put any away and crashed 1-0 on a last-gasp Landon Donovan goal.

AEK Athens striker Rafik Djebbour, recalled to the first team for the US clash, smashed his effort against the crossbar with goalkeeper Tim Howard clearly beaten six minutes into the game.

But Djebbour was later replaced by Italy-based striker Abdelkader Ghezzal in the 65th minute as Algeria searched for a go-ahead goal. There were also shots by midfielders Hassan Yebda and Karim Matmour which failed to hit target.

Algeria thus finished bottom of the group with a point and failed to score a goal in their three matches in South Africa, the others being a 1-0 defeat against Slovenia and a credible 0-0 draw with England.

Saadane, who demanded efficiency in front of goal ahead of the deciding match, admitted the country will now have to shop for more clinical finishers to shore up their fortunes.

'The difference between the US and us was that they converted one of their chances. We could have done better as we created many chances but there was also pressure on the strikers. They wasted a number of chances because of this pressure,' said Saadane, who is in his third spell as Algeria coach.

'We have found new players in defence, we now have to find the 'rare birds' in attack.'

He said he will discuss his ideas with the Algeria football federation, which will have to decide if he is the man to lead the team to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Libya.

The Algeria handler disclosed that his team struggled to cope with the high altitude in Pretoria, while blaming their opening Group C 1-0 loss to Slovenia for the early World Cup ouster.

'We did not have enough time to adapt to the high altitude and this affected the team in some ways,' he said.

'But it was our first match that decided our fate in this competition. We did not get the right result from that match and that's one of the lessons we have to take away from this tournament.

'We gave our best and have nothing to be ashamed of. This was the first time in 24 years we have played at the World Cup and we should not expect miracles.

'We have learnt a great deal and these experiences will make Algeria to have a positive future,' he said.

South Africa 2010 was the North African country's third World Cup appearance, having featured at the 1982 and 1986 tournaments, and they have yet to go past the first round.