GLOBAL FOOTBALL
Madjer: Algeria fire head coach
The Desert Foxes are now searching for their sixth manager in four years after sacking Rabah Madjer on Sunday.
The Algeria national football team has parted ways with coach Rabah Madjer following a disappointing series of results.
The country's Football Federation (FAF) published a very brief statement announcing the news on Sunday.
"The federal office in its statutory meeting held at the National Technical Center on June 24, 2018 unanimously decided to separate from the national coach, Mr. Rabah Madjer, and his assistants Ighil Meziane, Djamel Menad and Lounes Gaouaoui," read the FAF's statement.
Madjer, a former Algerian football icon, was appointed as head coach of the Desert Foxes for the fourth time in October 2017 to replace Lucas Álcaraz.
Four wins in eight games
In eight months in the job, the 59-year-old won four times in eight games.
His only competitive game was Algeria’s final 2018 World Cup qualifier, which ended 1-1 against Nigeria, but was later awarded as a 3-0 win to the Desert Foxes as the Super Eagles were found to have used an ineligible player.
Most recently, Algeria lost friendly matches to Cape Verde (3-2) and Portugal (3-0).
Madjer has been Algeria's fifth head coach since the departure of Vahid Halilhodzic after the 2014 World Cup, in which the side achieved their best result ever, falling in the last 16 to Germany.
"Madjer is a former great, a great school of Algerian football, but concerning the post of the head coach, he hasn’t succeeded," Algeria's Minister of Youth and Sports, Mohamed Hattab said to the media as reported by Le360.
"It's necessary to take the lessons from this because the national team must give joy and happiness."