Ahead of the AFCON quarter-finals experienced journalist African football journalist Philippe Doucet has given a brutal takedown of two of the favourites.
Hosts Morocco are the betting leaders and take on Cameroon, while Algeria lie fourth and face Nigeria.
Given their abundance of talent, the north-west African sides may be considered favourites for those ties, but history doesn’t favour them.
Combined they’ve only won AFCON once, the same number as Nigeria, and two less than Cameroon.
Canal+ journalist Doucet has explained why, taking on the whole north-west ‘Maghreb’ region including Tunisia.
“The biggest flaw in North African football is the catastrophic amount of playing time in matches,” he said.
“If you play 50 minutes, that’s the absolute maximum. You never actually play football. It’s all talk, arguing, and diving.
“We’re winning 1-0, the goalkeeper rolls around on the ground four times. When it’s 1-1, it’s the other goalkeeper who rolls around on the ground four times.
“It’s unbearable, you’re dreadful. This aspect of your game backfires because it makes you very calculating.
“Sometimes, I’ve seen North African teams be overly calculating even though they had real talent, but once they’re ahead, they think: ‘Push it a little harder.’ Egypt is extremely calculating, but they won. The advantage is that they win.”
Focusing in on Algeria, he added: “Algeria when it’s not doing well: ‘yes, but the referee, but yes, but that’.”
He also cited travel as a reason, which may allow Morocco to succeed this year as hosts.
“The Maghreb countries struggle to travel, and I’m not talking about the clubs,” the journalist observed.
“We’ve often seen Morocco and Algeria, with good teams and good players, fail in AFCON tournaments held in sub-Saharan Africa.
“There has sometimes been a certain disdain, unpleasant behaviour, and a disdainful attitude that can affect their motivation.
“An AFCON is a long tournament, and when you’re not happy to be there after a week…”
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