Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Oman were unable to repeat the accomplishment of neighbours Qatar as Africa’s top-ranked nation hammered Paul Le Guen’s side 4-1 in an international friendly on Monday.
Algeria, who are 18th in the latest edition of FIFA’s world ranking, went down 1-0 to Qatar on Thursday but in their second friendly in the Qatari capital the North Africans rediscovered some of the form they showed when they reached the Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup with two goals in each half against Oman.
Ishak Belfodil broke the deadlock just two minutes into the friendly at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium with his first international goal before Sofiane Feghouli doubled Algeria’s advantage in the 24th minute.
Feghouli scored his second of the game in the 61st minute before Belfodil, who like Feghouli was a former France youth international before opting to represent Algeria at senior level, bagged his brace just 60 seconds later.
Oman had the final say in the scoring stakes but Ali Al Busaidi’s strike with quarter-of-an-hour left to play was a mere consolation for the Gulf Sultanate, who are building up to the joint FIFA 2018 World Cup/AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers which start in June.
Oman will learn their opponents for the two-pronged qualifying campaign on April 14 at the preliminary draw in Kuala Lumpur.
Photo: AFP