Before Brahim Hemdani was appointed, the FAF considered several options for the Greens' coaching position. A foreign coach is now sharing insights into the discussions that excited him.
Gustavo Poyet was on the verge of taking charge of the Fennecs. In an interview with Afrik-Foot, the former Bordeaux coach, who has been without a club since leaving Al-Khaleej in May 2026, revealed that he was in advanced talks with the FAF this summer, before the position was awarded to Brahim Hemdani.
He first explained the context in which the Algeria offer was presented to him: “I have been in contact with many people recently, but I received few concrete offers. I had a proposal from the Algerian national team. However, from what I understood, they were also in discussions with two or three other coaches. I was not the only candidate. In the end, they did not hire anyone, they chose an internal solution.
The Uruguayan also shared how captivated he was by the project: “I spoke with members of the federation, and I was informed that I was among the finalists. When we started discussing financial aspects, I thought things were moving forward for me, but I realized I was not the only candidate in the running. I was very interested in this opportunity. I had started to learn about Algerian football, the national team. I had begun to look into and study various elements regarding the upcoming match schedule, but in the end, it did not materialize.”
Without bitterness, he concluded: “They chose to go with an internal solution with someone already in place. It’s okay. I thank them for considering me. I had great discussions with members of the federation, and it’s one of the few concrete offers I really received this summer.” And for the future: “There are calls, contacts, opportunities, but we are now waiting for concrete proposals.”
Since then, Brahim Hemdani has taken charge of the Algerian national team. The Algerian has already conducted a training camp last September, with a positive record of 2 wins and 1 draw. Currently, Algeria is at the top of its group for the qualifiers for the upcoming CAN 2027.
DZfoot
