Algeria fans clash with police in France

Algeria fans clashed with riot police in various towns and cities across France on Sunday night after celebrations over their World Cup victory turned ugly, Local.fr reports.

Jubilant fans spilled out on the streets after seeing the Desert Foxes beat South Korea 4-2 in their World Cup group match.

The win, Algeria’s first in the World Cup since 1982, has given the North African side a chance to qualify for the next round and it was celebrated with gusto with as fans descended onto the Champs Elysee in Paris, the Old Port in Marseille and other towns and cities across the country.

While the vast majority of the partying remained good natured, by the early hours of the morning riot police had been called out as some fans went on the rampage.

In Grenoble fans torched several cars, buses and bins forcing police to fire tear gas in a bid to quell the trouble. There were similar scenes in Lyon, Lille and the town of Roubaix in the north-east of the country, where youths smashed shop windows and bus stops in the early hours of Monday morning.

It comes after police made a number of arrests after Algeria’s first World Cup match in which they lost to Belgium. That game saw the mayor of Roubaix order the centre of the town to be effectively locked down, with traffic banned and riot police out in force.

Meanwhile, Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic rounded on his critics after seeing his side beat South Korea to rekindle their World Cup hopes.

The Bosnian said, “You journalists have always criticised me, but the Algerian fans have always been behind us.”

“This is quite paradoxical, but they have never lost confidence in us – you did on the first day. It’s a pity; it’s a pity for you.

“But this is a present for everybody and I am sorry for you. We have won this match, we played very well, we scored four goals. Maybe you are sad, but this is how it is.”

Halilhodzic added, “There were rumours, lies that were told and they even attacked my young family. I am educated and I am ready to keep talking to them, otherwise I could have stopped all together because I don’t accept criticism against my young family.

“But I won’t say that I have won this battle for me, I have done it for the Algerian people. The Algerian people have always been overwhelmingly supportive of our team, even when we have lost.”