Odds were very high for Algeria’s desert foxes to reign over Zimbabwe’s Warriors in their opening group B game in the Africa cup of nations.
Surprisingly to many, the Warriors put up a sublime show and were on course to pick maximum points only to be disappointed by poor defending that allowed Riyad Mahrez to run through and shoot the equalizer with only eight minutes left.
The Foxes coach George Leekens acknowledges that the mistakes made in the first half cost his team dearly.
“This is just the first match and first matches are always difficult in any major competition,” Leekens said. “We had a bad first half and it affected our game plan.”
Zimbabwe came from behind and took a 2-1 lead through Nyasha Mushekwi and Kudakwashe Mahachi’s goals.
“There are no small teams here. We made mistakes in the first half that allowed Zimbabwe to play. The penalty was also a huge mistake.”
Leekens made only two changes in the second half pulling off Mokhtar Belkhiter for Mohamed Rabie Meftah just after the breather and later on El-Arbi Hilal Soudani for Rachid Ghezzal in the 78th.
“We resumed stronger in the second half and managed to equalize. Zimbabwe was always going to be difficult. We have one point and we will hope to have the three points in the next matches.”
The Algerians play Tunisia on Thursday 19th as Zimbabwe lock horns with Senegal