The national team began its November training session at the CTN yesterday. This is a unique training course: having barely arrived in Sidi Moussa, the Greens will already have to pack up to take the plane to Malabo, where they will face the Equatoguinean team this Thursday.
Indeed, the EN will leave today at 2:30 p.m. for Malabo, barely 24 hours after the players’ arrival in Algiers. Petkovic therefore does not have enough time to work on the automatisms for Thursday’s match, hence his decision to keep the squad from the last meeting, won hands down by EN in Togo. All the summoned players are present, with the exception of Belloumi who has withdrawn. Petkovic wasted no time and started training yesterday, before continuing this morning with a session where he will validate his choices, which already seem established. The cohesion of the group and the elements on which it focused last month will allow it to continue its preferred pattern, the 3-4-3. This system won the heart of the coach, especially for away matches. This will be all the more important against a good Equatorial Guinean attack, which will play on its home ground. The challenge is therefore significant for the players who will play on a new sub-Saharan pitch, but also for Petkovic, who must deal with the absence of Boudaoui and find a replacement. We are waiting to see if he will choose Zagence or rely on Abdelli, in great form with Angers this season. In summary, Petkovic will not have enough time to test new combinations for this first match. He will not take any risks and will reserve his experiments for next Sunday’s match in Tizi Ouzou against Liberia. Despite the short 48 hours he will have to prepare for this match, he wants above all to allow the players to recover. This is why he will resort to turnover, allowing Thursday’s starters to rest and offering a chance to new recruits. This will be the last opportunity to try new elements before March and the highly anticipated resumption of World Cup qualifying.
S.M.A
