Algeria’s Midfielder, Guedioura has expressed his sadness over their inability to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Games in Qatar.
Algeria lost 2-1 to Cameroon in the World Cup qualifiers on March 29 at the Stade Mustapha Tchaka in Algeria, due to the away goal rule since Algeria defeated Cameroon 1-0 in the reverse fixture on March 25 at the Douala Stadium.
According to Guedioura, their failure to qualify for the World Cup Games still hunts him even after he moved with his family to Paris, he avoided going out for a while to evade questions on why they didn’t qualify from Algerians living in Paris.
He further said that it is painful to him, considering he is 36 years of age, and this could have been the last world cup that he would feature in.
He also added that Qatar is like a second home to them, as most of them, live in Qatar, and it would have been beautiful to play the world cup Games in Qatar. Considering how close they were to qualify for the World Cup Games, it’s something that will hunt him for a long time.
“I went to Paris with my family. It took me three weeks to a month to try to go out because Paris is full of Algerians and people come to you to tell you: ‘What’s happened, how and why?’ Those memories come back and it’s hurting,” Guedioura told BBC Sport.
“It’s going to be a trauma in my head because I’m 36 now and I still have a lot in the tank. My life hoped to play in the World Cup here (In Qatar). I’m quite familiar with this country, the (Algeria) manager lives in Qatar as well.
“Many players play here, so for us, it was kind of a World Cup in our second country. The problem for us is that it was so close that the hurt is more and the scenario of the game, as well, hurts even more. It’s going to be a trauma that will take time for me to recover.”
