time, and in extra time a perfect Karim Ziani cross found Hameur Bouazza who gave the Fennecs the lead. Algeria shocked the whole continent with a convincing win against a Cote Ivoire team that was considered the best in Africa. Next Algeria faced Egypt in the semi-finals, tensions were still high between the two nations after the World Cup qualification play-off incident and fans from both sides felt it was a must win game for them. Unfortunately for Algeria, things did not go as planned. After waves of controversial decisions from the referee for both sides, Algeria ended the game with 3 red cards which led to Egypt winning 4–0 which was the biggest defeat in the history of the teams' meetings. Algeria then lost 1–0 to Nigeria in the third-place game and finished fourth in the competition. 2010 FIFA World Cup Algeria was drawn in Group C with England, USA, Slovenia. The north African side came in the tournament in poor form, losing nearly all their world cup preparation games in friendlies. In their first game they lost to Slovenia 0–1. The match was scoreless until Slovenia's captain Robert Koren scored in the 79th minute after Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off for his second bookable offence. In their second group game, Algeria drew with England leading to mass celebration throughout the world's Algerian communities. The Fennecs lost their final group game to the United States 1–0 thanks to a Landon Donovan winner in second-half injury time. Algeria exited the championship as one of two teams, along with Honduras, to fail to score a goal. 2010–11: A team in trouble After the World Cup, bad results were growing and growing with no wins. After a 2–1 home loss to Guinea in a friendly match and a 1–1 draw at home to Tanzania, veteran manager Rabah Saâdane resigned and was replaced with Abdelhak Benchikha. The newly appointed coach tried to bring in new faces to the squad to bolster their offense but poor results continued for Benchikha's side who started off with a 2–0 away loss to Central African Republic. There was a little bit of hope restored for the Algerians after they beat Morocco 1–0 at home after a goal from Hassan Yebda but After they lost 4–0 to Morocco in the return leg, their manager resigned. Algeria failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and the