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The Desert Foxes have won 15 and drawn five competitive international friendly matches since the last time they lost, in Benin two years ago in the previous Nations Cup qualifying competition.
Manchester City winger Mahrez says much of the credit for the undefeated streak must go to coach Djamel Belmadi, calling him “a wizard who has breathed a soul into our national team.”
Algeria have beaten former champion Zambia and edged out Botswana in Group H, giving them a two-point lead over Zimbabwe, and it would be a surprise if they didn’t rack up three more points in Algiers.
It will be the first competitive test for Zimbabwe coach Zdravko Logarusic, a Croatian whose contract with Sudan was not renewed after guiding them in the first two qualifying rounds.
Here, AFP Sport highlights five of the other Matchday 3 matches that start on Wednesday and continue through Saturday.
🔴 📷 | Images of the training of the national team, today, in preparation for the qualifying rounds of Togo for the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon ….. ⬇️⬇️#EFA pic.twitter.com/JImAhLIZhe
– EFA.eg (@EFA) November 9, 2020
Egypt v Togo
Egypt, inspired by Mohamed Salah, are off to a dismal start in Group G, scoring only once in draws with modest Kenya and the Comoros, who are in third place, in the lower ranking.
The record seven-time African champions will await goals from the Liverpool sniper, whose successful penalty earned Liverpool a draw at Manchester City on Sunday.
Togo have fared even worse than Egypt with veteran French coach Claude le Roy, losing at home to Comoros before sparing some pride by forcing a draw in Kenya.
Gabon v Gambia
Forced to pre-qualify, the Gambia needed a penalty shoot-out to eliminate soccer featherweight Djibouti, making their leadership in Group D even more remarkable.
The Scorpions have never appeared in a Nations Cup, but a road win over Angola and a home draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo under Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet has Gambians excited.
Playing Gabon under the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pattern should be the toughest test yet and The Gambia will miss playmaker Hamza Barry, who is recovering from cruciate ligament surgery.
Ivory Coast v Madagascar
French coach Patrice Beaumelle has filled his Cote d’Ivoire squad with Premier League players as he tries to get Côte d’Ivoire back on the winning track after a surprising loss to Ethiopia late last year.
He chose defenders Eric Bailly (Manchester United), Willy Boly (Wolves) and Serge Aurier (Tottenham) and attackers Sebastien Haller (West Ham), Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal) and Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace).
Madagascar defied the odds by reaching the round of 16 of the 2019 Nations Cup and leading Group K after a 6-2 win over Niger, but it is hard to imagine another result in Abidjan other than a victory for the Ivory Coast.
Kenya v Comoros
It’s mind-blowing to look at the Group G ranking with the Comoros, an island nation off the southeast coast of Africa, in first place and Egypt in third place.
The team is known as Les Coelacantes for a rare fish and has never come close to qualifying for the final since it debuted 13 years ago and suffered beatings at home and outside of Madagascar.
Formidable at home for some time, they are no longer easy to impose outside of Moroni and a surprising victory in Togo with a goal from Faiz Selemani helped create their two-point lead over Kenya.
Zambia v Botswana
While Zambia have fallen since they stunned Didier Drogba-inspired Côte d’Ivoire in the 2012 Nations Cup final, no one in the country expected them to be last and meaningless in Group H after two rounds.
Losing at home to Algeria was anticipated, but not at home to Zimbabwe, and Serbian Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic has been hired to urgently fix the problems hampering Chipolopolo (copper bullets).
“Playing Botswana will not be a walk in the park,” he warned. “It is a very good team that has not conceded more than one goal in any of the five games with (Algerian coach) Adel Amrouche.”
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