{"id":40202,"date":"2025-12-26T20:45:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T19:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=40202"},"modified":"2025-12-26T20:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T19:46:20","slug":"the-desert-warriors-are-coming-argentine-press-sounds-the-alarm-after-algerias-afcon-opening-masterclass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=40202","title":{"rendered":"The Desert Warriors are Coming: Argentine Press Sounds the Alarm After Algeria\u2019s AFCON Opening Masterclass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By DZWatch <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>December 26, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the streets of Algeria were celebrating a dominant 3-0 victory over Sudan in the opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the echoes of the &#8220;Desert Warriors'&#8221; performance reached as far as Buenos Aires. The Argentine press, usually preoccupied with their own domestic stars, turned a sharp eye toward the Fennecs this week\u2014and for a very strategic reason.With Algeria confirmed as Argentina\u2019s first opponent in the opening match of the **2026 FIFA World Cup** (set for June 16, 2026), the South American media is now monitoring every move made by Vladimir Petkovi\u0107\u2019s men.### &#8220;A Warning for Scaloni&#8221;The popular Argentine sports portal <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bolavip<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> led with a headline that captured the sudden anxiety: **&#8221;Warning for Argentina before World Cup 2026: Algeria is the Real Deal.&#8221;** The outlet highlighted that the Fennecs didn\u2019t just win; they dominated. They also picked up on the playful yet confident remarks from Youcef Bela\u00efli regarding his future encounter with Lionel Messi, noting that the Algerian &#8220;spark&#8221; is something the *Albiceleste* defense should not take lightly.### The 16-Match Unbeaten StreakMeanwhile, ***El Destape*** focused on the sheer consistency of the Algerian squad. In an article titled **&#8221;Algeria Won\u2019t Stop: 16-Match Unbeaten Run Puts Argentina on High Alert,&#8221;** the newspaper analyzed the physical tactical discipline of the team. They described the Algerian side as a &#8220;compact machine&#8221; that has mastered the art of high-pressure football throughout 2025, suggesting that the World Champions will face a &#8220;nightmare&#8221; opener in June.### The &#8220;Mahrez-Maza&#8221; ConnectionThe legendary ***TyC Sports*** took a more technical approach to the 3-0 victory. Their analysts were particularly impressed by the blend of generations within the squad.* **Riyad Mahrez:** Described as &#8220;the eternal magician,&#8221; his performance against Sudan was seen as a message that his world-class quality remains intact.* **Ibrahim Maza:** The Bayer Leverkusen starlet was dubbed the &#8220;Rising Threat.&#8221; *TyC Sports* warned that Maza\u2019s clinical finishing and pace represent a new era for Algerian football that Argentina\u2019s tactical lines must prepare for.### &#8220;La Goleada&#8221;The term **&#8221;Goleada&#8221;** (a crushing victory) was used across several outlets like ***MetaGoles***, which noted that while Sudan was the victim today, the efficiency of the Algerian attack was &#8220;frightening.&#8221; The consensus among Argentine pundits is clear: Algeria is no longer just an African powerhouse; they are a global threat ready to spoil Argentina\u2019s title defense.### Final WordFor **DZWatch**, this international attention confirms what we already knew: The Fennecs are not just playing for a third golden star on their chest in this AFCON; they are building a reputation that has the reigning World Champions looking over their shoulders.As the tournament progresses, all eyes\u2014especially those in Argentina\u2014will remain fixed on the Green and White.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By DZWatch December 26, 2025 While the streets of Algeria were celebrating a dominant 3-0 victory over Sudan in the opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the echoes of the &#8220;Desert Warriors&#8217;&#8221; performance reached as far as Buenos Aires. The Argentine press, usually preoccupied with their own domestic stars, turned a &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","iawp_total_views":9,"footnotes":""},"categories":[184,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","category-sports"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40204,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40202\/revisions\/40204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}