Ghana and Algeria agree to October friendly

Ghana and reigning African champions Algeria have finally agreed on an international friendly in Europe this October.

Per SportyAfrica.com’s understanding, the two countries had previously held talks over such an opportunity after the Foxes won the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

But the proposed game was shelved after Algeria, who wanted to host the game, refused Ghana’s [Normalization Committee] demands of some appearance fees to honour the game. Algeria went on to host West African neighbours Benin and won 1-0 on September 9, 2019.

A year on, talks are back on with both Ghana and Algeria agreeing in principle for a friendly in Europe during the Fifa dates in October to form part of their preparations towards the resumption of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled for November.

But COVID-19, which disrupted the international calendar since March this year, is still creating a challenge for this friendly. Football is allowed to return under strict protocols including playing behind closed doors, something both Ghana and Algeria subscribe to for this game.

A number of countries match organizers (believed to be Evol Sport) have contacted to host this game have responded in the negative.

The Netherlands to the rescue?

France – who hosted Algeria’s last game vs Colombia – have reportedly rejected the chance to have the Ghana-Algeria encounter, likewise Switzerland and Austria for obvious reasons.

While the above-mentioned countries have said no, the Netherlands appears to give some hope as they did not give an outright negative response, at the time of this report.

Ghana and Algeria have 12 games between them at the senior level. Their last meeting was at the group stage of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. The Black Stars won 1-0.

©SportyAfrica.com