Libya’s national team coach, Adel Amrouche has succeeded in his desire of having next month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played on ‘favourable ground,’ as the country’s football federation has approved the game to hold in his home country, Algeria.
While Super Eagles’ gaffer, Gernot Rohr is yet to get an approval of his desire to have the first leg hold on a ‘big pitch’ in Nigeria, Amrouche has gone one ahead of the Franco-German gaffer.
Nigeria are still desperately in search on adequate venue to host the first leg on October 10, but Amrouche’s desire for the game to hold where he is familiar and can get support has been acquired.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) have not permitted the Mediterranean Knights to play their home games in Libya, as a result of the political upheavals in the country, but they will now host Nigeria in Algeria, after they hosted Seychelles in Tunisia last year.
Libya will face Nigeria at Omar Hamadi Stadium in Bologhine, Algiers, Algeria on October 16, after Amrouche requested that the important fourth match in the AFCON 2019 race should be played in Algeria, not Tunis.
Amrouche is an Algerian citizen and is counting on the support of Algerian fans in his bid to beat the Eagles for the first time in his managerial career, hence his request to transfer the game to Algeria.
In addition, Omar Hamadi Stadium is the home ground of USM Alger, a club Amrouche played for in the 1990s and managed the team in 2016 before he became Libya’s coach.
Libya lead Group E of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with four points, same as South Africa, but one point more than Nigeria ahead of next month’s double-header.
Amrouche will then be banking on ‘home advantage’ in Algeria to regain top spot after possibly losing the first leg away in Nigeria.
