World-Algeria revamp squad for World Cup return

ALGIERS, May 19 (Reuters) - Bringing seven uncapped players into Algeria's preliminary World Cup squad reflects concern over the north Africans' chances at the finals.

Coach Rabah Saadane has made significant changes to his squad in the wake of their performance at the African Nations Cup finals in Angola in January and a mounting injury toll.

Regulars such as Hameur Bouazza and Yacine Bezzaz have been ruled out of the tournament in South Africa and there is concern over the fitness of Mourad Meghni, the Lazio midfielder.

Algeria's football federation have paid for Meghni to have specialist treatment on a knee injury in Qatar in an attempt to return him to fitness for the finals.

Saadane made a point of seeking out new talent after the Nations Cup, despite Algeria exceeding expectations by reaching the semi-finals.

The team started their Angolan adventure against the backdrop of internal friction and suffered a shock defeat to Malawi in their first game, before recovering to scrape through to the knockout stage.

There they delivered an upset of their own in beating the Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals before being brought back down to earth when Egypt hammered them 4-0 in the semi-finals. Algeria also had three players sent off in the game.

Saadane made a tour of several European countries in March to look at prospective new players, calling up former Liverpool player Carl Medjani, Sochaux's Ryad Boudebouz and Italian-based Djamel Mesbah after watching them play.

The search for a new goalkeeper led him to run his eye over several candidates before he settled on Rais Mbouli, who has been at Manchester United on trial.

Fitting the new players into the established group is a big gamble for the coach so close to the World Cup finals.

But Saadane, in an interview with Reuters in February, said Algeria's unexpected qualification from a tough group, combined with drawing England, Slovenia and the U.S. in the group stage, could perhaps work in their favour.

"We will be playing without pressure and without much expectation. We need to also play without fear against these big teams," he said.

"We want to show that we can play good football. We are back at the World Cup after 24 years and that I think is our primary objective. But there is no reason to think we cannot pull off a shock result.  sakuad Algeria
Goalkeeper
1    Lounés Gaouaoui  
20    Djamel Mesbah   
16    Fawzi Chaouchi   
Defender
4    Anthar Yahia   
3    Nadir Belhadj  
2    Madjid Bougherra   
20    Djamel Mesbah   
12    Habib Bellaid   
18    Carl Medjani  
5    Rafik Halliche  
14    Abdelkader Laifaoui  
Midfielder
6    Yazid Mansouri   
15    Karim Ziani   
19    Hassan Yebda   
8    Medhí Lacen  
20    Djamel Mesbah   
22    Djamel Abdoun  
21    Foued Kadir  
17    Adlène Guédioura   
7    Ryad Boudebouz  
Forward
10    Rafik Saïfi  
11    Rafik Djebbour 
13    Karim Matmour
9    Abdelkader Ghezzal   

Algerian national team coach Rabah Saadane has revealed his final roster for the 2010 World Cup. The squad is devoid of surprises considering that injuries have largely made most of the tough decisions for the coach.

The Fennecs suffered their most serious setback last week when the team’s medical staff determined that their influential Lazio playmaker Mourad Meghni would be unable to take part in the tournament considering that he hadn’t fully recovered from a nagging knee injury which will now require surgery.

The last player cut from the team was MC Alger goalkeeper Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche after Slavia Sofia’s Raid M’Bolhi moved up in the pecking order. Meanwhile, none of the five reserve players who were included in the provisional squad such as Lazhar Hadj Aissa, Hocine Metref, and Khaled Lemmouchia (all ES Setif), Mohamned Meftah (JS Kabylie), and Amri Chadli (Kaiserslautern) made the final cut.

Algerians will be hoping their side can bounce back from their recent demoralizing loss to Ireland and put in some good performances in South Africa with a squad that includes a large number of new faces as well as veterans such Madjid Bougherra and Antar Yahia who are just returning from their respective injuries.Goalkeepers    -
Lounes Gaouaoui    ASO Chlef (ALG)
Faouzi Chaouchi    ES Setif (ALG)
Raid Ouheb M’bolhi    Slavia Sofia (BUL)
Defenders    -
Abdelakder Laifaoui    ES Setif (ALG)
Madjid Bougherra    Rangers FC (SCO)
Carl Medjani    Ajaccio (FRA)
Rafik Halliche    Madeira (POR)
Antar Yahia    Bochum (GER)
Habib Belaid    Boulogne Sur Mer (FRA)
Nadir Belhadj    Portsmouth (ENG)
Djamel Mesbah    Lecce (ITA)
Midfielders    -
Hassan Yebda    Portsmouth (ENG)
Medhi Lacen    Racing Santander (SPA)
Yazid Mansouri    Lorient (FRA)
Adlene Guidoura    Wolverhampton (ENG)
Riad Boudebouz    Sochaux (FRA)
Djamel Abdoun    Nantes (FRA)
Foued Kadir    Valenciennes (FRA)
Karim Ziani    Wolfsburg (GER)
Karim Matmour    Borussia Monchengladbach (GER)
Forwards    -
Abdelkader Ghezzal    Siena (ITA)
Rafik Djebbour    AEK Athens (GRE)
Rafik Saifi    Istres (FRA)