Costa Rica and Algeria. Brazil '14. Every World Cup has it's surprise team, or two. Turkey and Senegal in 2002. Belgium in 1986. Bulgaria in 1994. Croatia in 1998. Not neccessarily teams who came out of nowhere, but teams who maybe slipped under the radar of many football fans.
Africa has arguably the toughest qualifying tournament and it's as amazing seeing who didn't qualify as who did. Algeria would have come to Brazil battle hardened and not without an impressive amount of talent.
When Belgium needed two late goals to beat Algeria in a come-from-behind 2-1 in their opening group match, it could have been put down to Belgium not being fully into their stride yet. Algeria put up a good fight but they wouldn't go far, was the opinion. Then they beat South Korea 4-2 and were scintillating in attack. Maybe this was a good team. By the time they drew 1-1 Russia in their final group match to qualify for the last 16 at the expense of the Russians, their energy and passion had attracted a lot of supporters.
In the last 16 they pushed the Germans all the way to extra time. Finally they buckled but not without fighting right up until the last minute of the 120. Literally. They scored in the last seconds of play but it wasn't enough to prevent a tough 2-1 loss. How the Algerians would have loved to exact revenge on the Germans for the grossly unfair events of 1982.
Reaching the second round was a huge achievement. Winning admiration and new fans is nowhere near as significant as a win on the pitch, but Algeria did leave many football fans wishing that they could have been in Brazil longer. And, as further proof of the challenge of getting through African qualifying, they did not make it this year, after being in a final qualifying group with Nigeria, Zambia and Cameroon. It would not have been a surprise no matter who qualified.
We'll miss them in Russia. I'll miss them, not just because I called on my Algerian ancestry but because they were one of those teams that played with a passion and sense of joy rarely seen at a World Cup.
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