Djamel Belmadi, the Algerian national team coach, supported his team’s star, Riyad Mahrez, to win the 2023 African Player of the Year award, as he is more deserving than any other African star.
Al Ahli star is competing with a number of major players in Africa for the award, led by Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Senegalese Sadio Mane, and Moroccan Yassine Bounou.
Algeria will begin its journey in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Somalia, and during the press conference for the match that will be held at Nelson Mandela Stadium, Belmadi was asked about the Best African Player award, to which he replied, “Riyad Mahrez is the most deserving of the award.”
He also added, "He is most deserving of this award for what he did last season. What he won with Manchester City is not easy."
Belmadi's support comes days after Mahrez's statements, during which he confirmed that he is superior to Salah, Mane and Bounou thanks to achieving the historic treble with Manchester City last season, and how he played a major role in Pep Guardiola's squad winning the three titles.
In a related development, Mahrez spoke at the press conference, but he focused his words on the Somalia match and his dream of playing in the 2026 World Cup.
The former Manchester City star said, “We want to qualify for the World Cup and not repeat what happened in the previous qualifiers.”
He concluded, "We are ready for the qualifiers. I want to participate in the World Cup with our current generation. I participated in 2014, but I did not play much then."
The Algeria group includes the teams of Guinea, Uganda, Botswana, Mozambique and Somalia, and only the first-place team qualifies for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, America and Mexico.
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