Mahdaoui Algeria's chances of winning the African Nations Cup are great

The former coach of the Algerian national team, Abdel Rahman Mahdaoui, has nominated the “Desert Warriors” to win the African Cup of Nations taking place in Cameroon.

This came during an interview conducted by Anatolia with Al-Mahdawi to determine the chances of the Algerian team to win the African Cup and preserve the title that it won in the previous edition at the expense of Senegal.

At the beginning of his speech, Mahdawi said: "Logic says that the chances are great, but the Algerian team must remain steadfast in order to preserve the title."

Mahdaoui pointed out that Algeria possesses many factors and ingredients in order to maintain the African crown, the most important of which are "the series of positive results that reached 35 matches without defeat, the spirit of the group and the new tactical style of coach Belmadi, the players' adaptation to him, and his possession of excellent elements active in Europe."

He added, "The current session is an opportunity for the Greens and national coach Jamal Belmadi, to prepare well in a smart and organized way, as well as psychologically, physically and tactically for the upcoming matches of the World Cup (organized by Qatar from November 21 to December 18, 2022)."

Why do greens falter?

The Algerian national team launched the campaign to defend its title in the 33rd edition of the African Nations Cup in Cameroon , with a goalless draw against its counterpart Sierra Leone , in the fifth group competition, which also includes the teams of Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) and Equatorial Guinea.

In this regard, he considered that the “Desert Warriors” stumble with Sierra Leone due to “the difficulty of preparation due to the delay of some players to the stalking that took place in Qatar recently, in addition to the lack of focus and the intense heat and high humidity that overshadowed the match.”

In his analysis of the opening meeting of the Greens, El-Mahdawi said: "The defensive bloc of the Sierra Leone team throughout the match broke the plan for the transfer, distribution and control of the ball between the Algerian players, and weakened their effectiveness in front of the goal."

"During the second half, the Algerian team created many opportunities, but the players did not translate them into goals," he added.

He explained, "The Greens' start was not negative, but only a stumble, and the majority did not expect the result of a tie with Sierra Leone."

Al-Mahdawi, who coached Algeria between 1997-1998, pointed out that "the team is able to remedy the situation in the next two matches against Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast."

Algeria will play in the second round, Sunday, with Equatorial Guinea, while Ivory Coast will face points with Sierra Leone.

Ivory Coast tops the group standings after defending champion Algeria tied, last Tuesday, without goals with Sierra Leone.

Message to the warriors

Mahdaoui, who with the Algerian military team won the 2015 World Military Cup, called on the "desert warriors" to adapt to the various conditions of the tournament, whether in terms of weather or arbitration errors that occur.

As an example, he said: “The referee of the Tunisia-Mali match announced the end of the interview five minutes before its official date, then retracted, and completed the match and zeroed in the 89th minute, too, without calculating the overtime.”

He attributed this to the possibility that the referee was psychologically affected by the high temperature and humidity, as well as the rest of the players of the two teams.

Who is the favorite to win the title?

Mahdaoui put Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Senegal and the tournament organizer, Cameroon, as the most prominent candidates to win the title “because of the experience of these teams and their possession of excellent players active in European leagues.”

Algeria won the African Cup of Nations in its last 2019 edition, after defeating Senegal in a final held at the "Cairo International" Stadium, with a goal without a response.

Algeria raised the balance of the series of matches without losing to 35 matches, equaling the achievement of Spain and Brazil, and two games away from equalizing the record recorded in the name of Italy (37 matches without defeat).

Algeria has not been defeated since its loss to Benin in October 2018 (26 wins and 9 draws), during the African Cup qualifiers that won its title in 2019.

Algeria won its first African Cup of Nations on its soil in 1990, after defeating Nigeria with a goal in return, while losing its first final in 1980.

How did a car accident turn the life of Sean Bradley, the NBA giant, until he contemplated suicide?

Nearly a year has passed since the life of the NBA giants Sean Bradley, who will be forever in a wheelchair, after he crashed into a car while riding a bicycle near his home in St. George (Utah) USA.

Bradley, 49, is 2.29 meters tall, played 12 seasons in the NBA, and began his professional career in 1993 with the Philadelphia 76ers, then played one season with the Brooklyn Nets, and then moved to the Dallas Mavericks team, with whom he ended his career Professional in 2005.

On January 20 last year, his bicycle at high speed collided with a car; Which made him fly through the air and fall over the trunk of the car before falling hard on his head.

And until we realize how strong the impact on the ground was, his protective helmet was broken, and Bradley could not move his arms or legs, he was only moving his eyes, he even looked at the sky and asked: Am I going to die slowly?

The American sports magazine "Sports Illustrated" highlighted the new life for the giant, who has become only mobile in a wheelchair.

She monitored the difficulties that he and his family faced daily after the accident, which she said made him contemplate suicide.

"I never imagined I would have such feelings, but I certainly did, it would have been better to finish it all," Bradley said.

Bradley, who played for Germany and earned more than $70 million during his NBA career, added that one of the most difficult moments in his days in hospital was when he received visits from his former Mavericks teammates such as Michael Finley.

"It was really hard to let them see me that way," he describes these moments.

The magazine stated that Bradley is now moving with difficulty in a huge wheelchair weighing more than 220 kilograms, which forced him to completely change his life to adapt to his new needs.

His wife, Carrie, says they always think about the appropriate places to go with him; For example, "We have to call the theater to make room for a wheelchair the size of Sean's.