Algerian fans could be treated to the same squad selection this evening that beat South Korea, as they run out at the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba later, to take on third placed Russia. Expected to lead the line for Algeria once more will be Islam Slimani, backed up in midfield by Tottenham Hotspurs’ Nabil Bentaleb. Russia’s Alexander Kokorin will be lucky to get a start this evening as Russian coach, Fabio Capello is being called to replace the misfiring striker with Aleksandr Kerzhakov. Aleksei Kozlov is more than likely going to sit out this game through injury, with Alan Dzagoev touted to be recalled to the midfield.
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Algeria are no slouches, even though they have been given the status of minnows by most of the football world. In the last World Cup’s group stages they managed to stop Fabio Capello’s England from scoring and hold on for a well-fought draw. If they manage to achieve the same result this time around they will qualify for the round of sixteen for the first time in their country’s history. This will of course hinge on South Korea not winning in the other Group H game. It was Algeria who were denied a place in the last sixteen when West Germany and Austria played out a 1-0 win in 1982 for the Germans that controversially allowed both teams to progress into the next round, a game that was looked upon with scorn, anger and ridicule.
The “Disgrace in Gijon” as it is now known was to change the World Cup structure forever, with round of sixteen qualifying fixtures now being played simultaneously instead of sequentially. Both Russia and Algeria have a say in what happens to the group this evening, with both teams needing a win to get through. Russia only have one point and lie in third, but will still get through with a win, as long as South Korea don’t pull one out of the fire and win by a larger margin. It’s likely that Algeria will only need a point from their fixture after crushing South Korea 4-2. Midfielder Yacine Brahimi said: “I believe in attacking football and I think it is the only way we will progress. We played some very attacking football against South Korea and we need to repeat that, to keep our calm and play some good football.”
Russia’s Italian manager Fabio Capello will not be cowed by the England Algeria match of four years ago that saw a stubborn Algeria side stifle England’s attacking threat for most of the game, and ended up 0-0. The Italian is a strong character and has been touted as the “chosen one” for the next World Cup which will take place in Russia in 2018. The Russian media are currently trying to pressurise Capello into changing his misfiring striker Alexander Kokorin for Aleksandr Kerzhakov but as England fans will already know, you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make Capello do anything.
