BRENT LATHAM – Coming into the tournament, there were two schools of thought on Algeria. The first, and I dare say most prevalent, was the idea that Algeria is a flashy team capable of moments of offensive brilliance, but not consistent or coherent enough to make a run for the second round over the course of three games.
That school of thought, which I probably subscribed to, was pretty close to becoming reality when the Desert Foxes self-destructed in the first match, as Abdelkater Ghezzal earned a red card and Slovenia got a late winner. Had England not shown up so anemically, and just put one in the net, we’d be talking now about an eliminated team likely to not be in a very good mood for their last match.
But alas, that didn’t happen. So the U.S. is instead facing the ‘B’ scenario – a dangerous North African team brimming with confidence that would love nothing better than to get to the second round by beating the U.S.
Which is the real Algeria? Somewhere in between. Consider:The Algerians Come into the Match on a High. They’ve just tied England, giving them plenty of confidence to face the U.S. Just as importantly, they won’t be the infighting, incoherent group the U.S. could well have expected to face at this point in the tournament.
On the other side, overconfidence could fall right into Bradley’s plans. If the Algerians come forward too robustly, they’ll be vulnerable on the counter.
Algeria Hasn’t Scored a Goal in the Tournament. Despite their clever offensive shows, the Algerians aren’t very good at actually putting the ball in the net. The American defense has been inventing new ways to let goals in of late, though, so that’s only partially reassuring.
Algeria gets Ghezzal back for this match, if Coach Saadane wants him. But their most powerful offensive weapons are actually the heads of their back four.
The Defense is by Far Their Strongest Point. This is a tough back four, and a group that likes to get forward in attack. Bob Bradley is likely to be crafting a strategy to take advantage of that right now.
Goalkeeping is Highly Suspect. Rais Mbolhi, who seems to have won the spot, is an interesting and pretty experienced character. He’s one of the French-Algerians who just joined the team, and his international experience is extremely limited.
But he looked a bit shaky despite his shutout against England, and the pressure will be even higher Wednesday. The U.S. should test him from long range early and often.
Over to you guys….