Sorocaba – The first day of training of the Algeria team in the city of Sorocaba, São Paulo’s countryside, changed the daily life of the municipality. On Monday afternoon (9th), military policemen surrounded the municipal stadium Walter Ribeiro, while buses brought tens of students, young people and children, who would see the first public appearance of the Arab team, who arrived there on Sunday.
The Algeria team had a warm welcome, especially by teenager girls, who would shout out to players whose names they couldn’t even say. But the team led by coach Valid Halilhdzic came to Brazil with a goal far from attracting the attention of the locals. Algeria wants to obtain their first qualification for the round of 16 in the World Cup.
“We hope to have the best performance of Algeria, of the Arab world and Africa in the World Cup. Our goal is to go to the second stage [of the tournament],” said Mohamed Raouraoua, chairman of the Algerian Football Federation, in an exclusive talk with ANBA.
According to him, the Algerian team is working hard to go to the round of 16. The North African team has already participated in the Tournament before, in 1982, 1986 and 2010. In all of the occasions, the team was eliminated in the group stage.
“We want Brazil to win the Cup, because it is the team hosting us,” said Raouraoua, showing the support for the home team. He was also sorry there would not be a match between the two teams in the first stage. Due to the group division, this will be only possible in a later stage of the championship.
Specialized in sport news, Algerian journalist Djamal Ouaglal, from the newspaper Infosoir, believes that, this time, his country’s team can go further in the World Cup.
“Algeria’s team came to the World Cup in Brazil to make history, because Algeria has not passed the first stage in the three times it participated in the World Cup. This year, the team has a good chance to go to the second stage. We have good players, who come from big clubs in Europe, such as Inter Milan, Valencia, Porto, Benfica. The players can make the difference,” he evaluated.
In his opinion, the score of the first goal will be essential to see if Algeria team can reach its goal. “The first match is very important. I believe that if we have a good result against Belgium, it will be easier going to the second stage,” he says.
Algeria is in Group H. Besides Belgium, which is the seed team of the group, Algerian team will also have to face South Korea and Russia. In the first training session, ANBA’s reporter could not find Belgian press in the stadium in Sorocaba, South Korean and Russian journalists, however, were observing quite attentively the Algerian athletes.
While they are in the Tournament, Algeria’s home will be the training center of the local team Clube Atlético Sorocaba. According to the mayor, Antônio Carlos Pannuzio (member of political party PSDB), this is a good occasion to showcase the municipality internationally.
“It is an opportunity Sorocaba has to be seen by the world, once we have here journalists from all over the world to cover the event, the delegations that are here. For a city which is now turning into a cosmopolitan city, it is the acknowledgement that our policies, our effort to stop being a provincial city and become an international city is the right direction,” he pointed out. Besides hosting the Algeria team, the municipality is also hosting the training sessions of Japan’s team.
“Sorocaba is hosting Algeria thanks to the acknowledgement the city has good infrastructure. The effort local team Atlético made to improve their own facilities, to meet Fifa’s requirements, it was amazing. The city hall did its share, with some improvements in our stadium, which is in perfect conditions and all the general structure of the city is quite good,” he said.
And as all competition must have supporters, Algeria has also its got passionate fans. “I am always with the players to root for them”, said Algerian Chmissou Mabsoute, 23 years old. He said he is famous for always following the national team.
“I always travel with the players to different countries in the world. It is the first time I have come to Brazil to support the Algerian team and I hope the team goes to the second stage,” he added.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
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