The curse of injuries haunts Algeria's goalkeepers

The curse of injuries continued to haunt the Algerian national football team's goalkeepers. After Anthony Mandria's absence from the North American World Cup was confirmed due to a dislocated shoulder, and Melvin Mastell underwent surgery to treat a hernia, Luca Zidane suffered a severe head injury on Sunday.

Luca, the son of French football legend Zinedine, lived a nightmare on Sunday evening, as he conceded four goals during his team's Granada match against its guest Almeria (2-4) in the thirty-seventh round of the Spanish Second Division, before he was forced to leave the field in the last minute after receiving a blow to the head following an intervention to clear a cross from Brazilian striker Thales Henrique.

The match was stopped for about four minutes due to Luca suffering from slight dizziness and bleeding in the mouth, before he left Los Carmenes stadium amid the applause of the fans, leaving his place to his teammate, Ander Astrallaga.

Luca was transferred to the hospital to undergo the tests required by the protocol.

Granada coach Bacheta said: “Luca Zidane was taken to the hospital after the blow he received, because he was feeling dizzy, and he will remain under observation and undergo the necessary tests.”

Zidane is still under observation in the hospital, according to what was reported by Spanish media, including the “Ideal” website.

Luca will know in the coming days whether he will be able to participate against Zaragoza next Friday.

Granada is nine points ahead of the first relegation places, with five stages remaining until the end of the season.

Zidane's injury came five days after Mastel, goalkeeper at the Swiss Stade Nyonnes (second division), underwent surgery to treat an inguinal hernia.

Luca is going through a difficult period after conceding eight goals in two matches, as Granada lost 4-0 to Albacete last week, and some of the fans then pointed the finger at the performance of Zinedine’s son, but the Spanish newspaper “AS” sought to mitigate the criticism, considering that the goalkeeper was not responsible for the goals he received, and attributing this to a greater extent to the defensive fragility of the Granada team.

Controversy still exists over the goalkeeping position in the Algerian national team. Despite his generally acceptable performances, Luca still faces difficulty in gaining the consensus of the Algerian public, who continue to compare him to Rice M'Bolhi.