A story that will probably not end there. Arriving in October as interim coach of Tunisia after the short stint of Faouzi Benzarti, Kais Yaâkoubi is already making waves. The coach of the Carthage Eagles, at a press conference this Monday, openly accused Algeria of paying binational players to join the Fennecs selection.
“Do you think Algeria brings back binational players, like Gouiri or Cherki for free? The answer is no,” said the 58-year-old after his team’s defeat against Gambia in the CAN 2025 qualifiers (0-1). Note that the Olympique Lyonnais player, regularly called up for the France Espoirs team, has never received a single call-up from the Algerian selection.
The former striker did not stop there and continued his momentum in front of the press, without providing real evidence, other than citing supposed conversations with a former member of the Fennecs staff. “The neighboring country is pulling out all the stops to afford players with dual nationality,” he said. I have already worked with a goalkeeper coach who played in two World Cups and two CANs with the Algerian team, who told me incredible things that you cannot imagine.”
Statements that the person concerned, Hassan Belhaji, did not hesitate to immediately deny to the Algerian media El-Khabar. “I worked with him a few years ago at JS Saoura, for a period of 3 or 4 months, and I never raised with him the question of the arrival of players with dual nationality,” he said. -he explained. I was surprised by these statements, which are nothing more than an attempt on his part to justify the poor situation of his country’s national team and its recent defeat (0-1 against Gambia). »
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