{"id":4035,"date":"2026-01-03T18:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/?p=4035"},"modified":"2026-01-07T18:18:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:18:30","slug":"algeria-drc-the-greens-get-down-to-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/2026\/01\/03\/algeria-drc-the-greens-get-down-to-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Algeria-DRC: The Greens Get Down to Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Greens have begun their preparation for the CAN 2025 round of 16 against the DRC. After mastering the group stage, the Algerian national team now focuses on this decisive showdown with seriousness and concentration.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a full day of rest granted by the technical staff, Algeria’s players resumed work this Friday to start preparing for the CAN 2025 round of 16 against the Democratic Republic of Congo. This important session marked the beginning of a decisive week for the Greens, though it was overshadowed by the absence of three players. As expected, Jaouen Hadjam and Samir Chergui did not participate in training. The two players are continuing their recovery phase to treat injuries sustained during the match against Burkina Faso on the second day of the group stage. To these known absences was added that of another defender: Mohamed Amine Touga\u00ef. Starting against Equatorial Guinea in a match where Vladimir Petkovic opted for extensive rotation in his starting eleven, the ES Tunis player could not finish the game. Injured during play, Touga\u00ef left the field on a stretcher around the hour mark, raising some concern. The medical staff plans daily evaluations of Touga\u00ef’s injury evolution before making a final decision on his participation against the “Leopards.” Note that the session was open to national and international press for the first 15 minutes, during which players were seen performing various core exercises. The Greens are fully entering the heart of the matter, with the DRC showdown in sight, considered one of the most formidable teams from the first round. This knockout match will demand concentration, rigor, and commitment from captain Riyad Mahrez’s teammates, determined to continue their journey in this 35th edition. In his post-match press conference, the Algerian coach sought to reassure: “According to initial information, it should be nothing serious. He felt a slight discomfort and preferred to stop as a precaution. We hope it won’t require medical exams. We’ll wait another day or two to know more. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.”<\/p>\n

Mahrez and Mandi Eyeing New Record<\/strong><\/p>\n

Already etched in Greens history, Riyad Mahrez and Aissa Mandi are set to add another line to their already impressive international CVs. In the CAN round of 16 against the DRC, Riyad Mahrez and Aissa Mandi will write a new chapter in their Algeria story. With 22 final tournament matches, they will surpass Rabah Madjer and officially become the most-capped Greens players in Africa Cup of Nations since 1992. Behind them, other key players like Baghdad Bounedjah, Isma\u00ebl Bennacer, Youcef Belaili, or Aissa Mandi could climb higher if Algeria advances. Mahrez, already the all-time top scorer with 37 goals, surpasses Abdelhafid Tasfaout and continues carving his path in Algerian football history. As for Aissa Mandi, with 114 caps, he remains the player who has worn the national jersey the most, and this record could grow further. Against the DRC, the two stars won’t just play for qualification\u2014they’ll enter Greens legend for good.<\/p>\n

Desabre on Morocco’s Support for Algeria<\/strong><\/p>\n

Days before the CAN 2025 round of 16 between the Fennecs and the DRC, the French coach spoke out. S\u00e9bastien Desabre addressed match preparation, Algeria’s level, and support from Morocco. In an interview with Top Congo, DRC coach S\u00e9bastien Desabre recalled the mindset driving his group since the competition’s start. The French technician stressed rigor, seriousness, and collective conviction: “We’ll prepare the match as we’ve always done, as seriously as possible, putting things in place to perform. We want to play our chance to the fullest because we believe we have the capacity to advance.” Continuing his analysis, the DRC selector discussed the tactical approach to this clash against a solid Algerian side rich in attack, while highlighting his players’ mindset: “We’ll want to score goals. That’s obvious. Then, the balance of power\u2014we’ll see how it sets up from the start. Algeria is a very good team with lots of offensive and defensive qualities. So, we’ll set something up and see what happens. What’s important is to give everything on the field like always. The players are extremely motivated and awaiting this match.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Greens have begun their preparation for the CAN 2025 round of 16 against the DRC. After mastering the group stage, the Algerian national team now focuses on this decisive showdown with seriousness and concentration. After a full day of rest granted by the technical staff, Algeria’s players resumed work this Friday to start preparing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-4035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-football"],"byline":"M.B","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4037,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions\/4037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeune-independant.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}