Belmadi’s successful bet
If the Greens managed to get the upper hand over Cameroon yesterday, during the first round of the 2022 World Cup play-offs, the credit goes first and foremost to the national coach, Djamel Belmadi.
And for good reason, the national coach who was shaken by a failed final phase of the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, with a premature exit from the first round of this CAN, found a tactical plan and an adequate game plan. in two months for this first leg match in Douala.
A job that paid off because Belmadi knew how to thwart the Indomitable Lions in their lair, from the Japoma stadium to Douala by managing to get the upper hand tactically over Rigobert Song to finally win this first leg match by the smallest of margins, on a goal signed, Slimani in the first period.
BELMADI, A FOLLOWER OF THE OFFENSIVE GAME, BUT…
A follower of the offensive game since his induction at the head of EN on August 2, 2018, the national coach had tried several tactical variants for three and a half years. Thus, the national coach who celebrated his 46 brooms yesterday tried several offensive variants, from 4-1-4-1 , 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1. The national coach even played with two points, pairing Slimani and Bounedjah in a hybrid 4-4-2 .
Yesterday for the first leg of the World Cup play-offs against Cameroon, Belmadi opted for an unprecedented tactical scheme by approaching this meeting with 3 defenders; a 3-4-3 . A paid tactic, because on the defensive phases the Vers defended with five defenders in addition to the contribution of the two midfielders, in this case, Zerouki and Bennacer . Belmadi locked everything, leaving no breach for Vincent Aboubakar’s teammates. A successful tactic, since EN took over Cameroon (1-0).
CAMEROONIAN ATTACKERS “IMMOBILIZED”
Faced with this Algerian double wall, the Cameroonian attackers were out of ideas insofar as neither Choupo-Moting or even less, the two strong jerseys of the offensive line of the Indomitable Lions, namely, Vincent Aboubakar and Karl Toko-Ekambe , who alone had scored 12 goals at CAN2022 .
Aboubakar, who only played one half after taking a blow to the ankle, was weaned off balls. Although he often stalled to stretch the low block of the Greens, but thanks to the defensive density of the Algerians, there were few spaces left for the Cameroonians. The Balloons also did not arrive at the head of Ekambe, very skilful in this register.
Same for the burly defenders of the Indomitable Lions during set plays. To say that the tactics adopted by Belmadi paid off. Now it’s up to Riyad Mahrez ‘s teammates to finish the job on Tuesday at home to officially score their ticket to the Qatari World Cup.
