Bensebaini leads Algeria to opening win, Burkina Faso up next | OneFootball

While most of Borussia Dortmund's professionals are enjoying their short Christmas break, Ramy Bensebaini started the Africa Cup on Christmas Eve with the Algerian national team. This year, the tournament is taking place in Morocco and earlier than in the past. The BVB professional celebrated a 3-0 victory against Sudan in the opening match, putting one of the favorites on course early.

In Rabat, the Desert Foxes had a perfect start to the tournament, taking the lead in the second minute through veteran Riyad Mahrez. The yellow-red card for Sudan's Salah Adel five minutes before the break made the match a rather one-sided affair. In the 61st minute, it was Mahrez again who increased the lead to 2-0, setting the stage for the first win. Leverkusen's Ibrahim Maza finally secured the 3-0 final score in the 85th minute.

Bensebaini was on the field for the entire 90 minutes, forming an experienced central defense with Aissa Mandi from OSC Lille.

Opening Match Winners Face Off

On the second match day, the Algerian team already has the chance to secure a place in the knockout phase. Again in Rabat, they will face Burkina Faso on Sunday (6:30 PM), with both opening match winners in Group E going head-to-head. Burkina Faso also won on Christmas Eve, defeating Equatorial Guinea 2-1.

Since, in addition to the two group winners, the four best third-placed teams from the six groups also advance to the round of 16, a second victory would almost certainly mean progression.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.