AFCON 2021: Defending Champions Held To A Stalemate In Opener

The defending champions of the Africa Cup of Nations, Algeria, were held to a 0-0 draw by Sierra Leone in their opening game of the campaign.

The Desert Foxes came into the game as overwhelming favourites but failed to crack down the Leone Stars who were making a return to the competition for the first time in 26 years.

Ranked 108th in the world, chances were slim that Sierra Leone would be able to get a result against Algeria who are currently ranked 29th place and third in the continent.

However, the Leone Stars started the match the more brighter side and almost took a shock lead just two minutes in when Yacine Brahimi’s mistake gifted Alhaji Kamara half a chance but the attempt was snuffed out by the Algeria defence.

Both sides continually carved out opportunities in the game but were let down by their finishing.

Sierra Leone goalkeeper Nbalie Kamara put in a man of the match performance against Algeria by constantly being alert in goal and easily dealing with threats.

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The reigning champions struggled to get clear-cut chances, especially in the final third with Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez unable to do much for his team.

In the 49th minute, Sierra Leone thought they had scored when Mohamed Buya Turay’s shot in the box found the back of the Algeria net. However, the goal was disallowed as the offside flag had gone up.

Algeria’s biggest chance came in the 52nd minute when Brahimi found himself in a one-on-one situation with the Sierra Leone goalkeeper Nbalie Kamara but was denied by an excellent save to keep the scores at 0-0.

Nbalie Kamara also denied Algeria’s Ramy Bensebaini and Baghdad Bounedjah in stoppage time to cap off a remarkable display.

Although they will be disappointed by the draw, Algeria extend their unbeaten run to 35 games, edging closer to Italy’s world record of 37 matches without defeat.

They will face Equatorial Guinea in their next game on Sunday while Sierra Leone will go up against Ivory Coast.

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