In a Sunday interview with CAF Online, Belmadi said the team had to meet the expectations of their supporters as well as their own after the Desert Warriors woeful outing in the last edition, managing just only one point at the end of their group in AFCON 2021 and were unable to advance past the group stage.
Algeria has won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) twice in 1990 by defeating Nigeria 1-0 and in 2019 by defeating Senegal 1-0, one in the 90's and 20's respectively.
"We feel we have to give back something in this AFCON," Belmadi said, reflecting on the performance. "We were disappointed in the last one because there were a lot of expectations and we couldn't satisfy them, we couldn't satisfy ourselves first and we couldn't satisfy them."
Belmadi reiterated the importance of humility, highlighting Algeria's recent failures in the World Cup and their early exit in the previous AFCON.
Algeria, the AFCON champions in 1990 and 2019, hopes to repeat that success under the 47-year-old coach's direction and Belmadi has recognized the great responsibility that comes with being a nation whose citizens are passionate about football, Nigeriasoccernet.com writes.
In the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021, Algeria, the defending champion, failed to successfully defend its title, as they couldn't advance past the group stage and finished last in their group with only one point.
Riyad Mahrez is arguably the best player for the Algerian national team and has won multiple titles in 2019 before moving to Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro-League. Mahrez was a key player in Algeria's second AFCON title in 2019 and is Algeria's all-time top scorer in AFCON with 6 goals and for them to stand a chance of going far in this year's tournament, they will need their talisman and captain to be on his best form .
Algeria's group stage campaign will begin on Monday with a match against Angola. Four days later, they will play Burkina Faso in Group D.
They will play Mauritania on January 23 to round up their group stage campaign.
By Olaleye Oluwadamilola