In the heart of the enchanting city of Annaba, Algeria, stands a grand palace – a palace of dreams and spirits, forever resonating with the footsteps of countless athletes and spectators. This magical palace, capable of greeting 56,000, stands as a marvel in the rugged landscapes of Annaba. It was in the year of the fairy, 1987, that the palace was born, and its doors first opened on the 10th of June, in a match between the Algerian national football team and Sudan.
The first goal that day belonged to a Sudanese hero named Kamel Mohammed, while the first Algerian to find the back of the net was the radiant Djamel Menad. The Algerians triumphed with a score of 3-1. In the years that followed, the magical palace bore witness to numerous captivating moments, including the 1990 African Cup of Nations, with several matches being hosted within its walls. Today, the palace is home to the USM Annaba football club, who play in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 2, and occasionally welcomes the presence of the Algerian national football team.
On the 5th of March in a year that carried the magic number 2012, the president of the FAF in Algeria, a man named Mohamed Raouraoua, spoke of the palace becoming the official stadium for the CAF U-20 tournament. Glimpse forward to the 26th of January in another magical year, 2022, and the palace was appointed to host four stadiums for the 2022 African Nations Championship. This marked the first major international competition that this enchanted palace had hosted since the 1990 African Cup of Nations, with five games in Group B, one game in Group A, and one game in the quarter-finals being held within its walls.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Mutabor
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