#24-Algeria

#24-Algeria
Nickname-The Greens
Confederation of African Football (CAF)
FIFA Ranking-#25 (March 2014)
Group H (Belgium, Russia, Algeria, South Korea)
Projected Results...
Loss to Belgium
Tie to Russia
Tie to South Korea
Manager-Vahid Halilhodžić
Qualified through CAF playoff victory over Burkina Faso
4th World Cup Appearance (1982, 1986, 2010)
Projected Finish-Third in Group H

Let me tell you right now.  This team will be a pain to play against.  They have a lot of quality, and are one of those teams that can be underestimated and you're down a goal before you know it.  I just have this weird vibe that Algeria is going to come in with nothing to lose and complicate things for the other teams in the group.  They nearly kept the USA from advancing last World Cup, if not for a Landon Donovan stoppage time goal.  The team is young and fast, and they can be extremely dangerous on the counter attack.  I think they have a fairly weak group after penciling in Belgium as the number one team in the group.  I still think they won't be able to finish second for the knockout stages, and they don't possess quite enough quality to advance past the first knockout round if they advance.  Here are some players to watch-they'll be fun:

Saphir Taider-Inter Milan player, 22 years old.  Fairly new to the national team. 9 appearances, 3 goals.  On his way to being a great player for the national team.  He will definitely be dangerous in the midfield.  Look out, Russia, Korea, and Belgium. 

Nabil Bentaleb-The dude is 19, playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League. At times, he looks great, other times he's overmatched.  But he's playing in a great league against world class talent (because his manager has some sort of love for him, still a good player).  He will bring his calm and collective attitude to Brazil, and will be important for the team.  He has one appearance for Algeria, only because he just committed to playing for the team (could have chosen France or possibly England in a few years-that's how highly regarded he is, so this worked out well for Algeria I'd say!) 

Islam Slimani-This is the x-factor for Algeria.  Slimani plays for Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, which happens to be rivals of my favorite team, SL Benfica.  So, I watch a lot of Slimani and am very familiar with him.  He has saved Sporting from draws or defeats multiple times this year, and is extremely dangerous up front.  A really quality striker, and has 18 appearances with 9 goals for Algeria.  Not a bad strike rate at all at 50%.

Nabil Ghilas-Also extremely dangerous, probably will be brought on to play alongside Slimani or replace him, depending on the situation.  4 appearances, 1 goal for Algeria.  Plays for another one of Benfica's rivals, FC Porto.  He could even start over Slimani given his recent form.  There's no bad choice here that the manager could make to start at striker (I would start both of them, personally.)