ALG - Benabdelhak and Cheriet added to Algeria's squad

ALGIERS (Afrobasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The past two months have been busy for Algeria's men's national team and its head coach Faid Bilal believes the side will show significant progress at this summer's Afrobasket in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Algeria started their Afrobasket preparations last month with a team consisting of young home-based players and won two of their four warm-up games as part of a training camp held in Serbia.

In June, they will compete in the Mediterranean Games set to take place in Turkey.

That tournament, Bilal says, will provide some homework for a team that has not featured in Africa's flagship event since 2005.

Later this month, the coach will add Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak and Mehdi Cheriet, the only two foreign-based players.

Benabdelhak is a 1.98m forward who plays college basketball at Brendan University in Canada, while 2.04m Cheriet plays professionally in France for Pro A side Boulazac.

Expectations are high to see those two players wear the Algerian green jersey.

"I am hoping these two players bring some international experience, which my team is short of," Bilal told FIBA.com.

When the telephone rang, Benabdelhak did not need much time to consider the invitation to join the national team of his country of birth.

"It was my childhood dream to play with my national team," he said.

"Now it is a dream come true to play in the Afrobasket. I am very happy and excited."

Cheriet, 26, has already taken part in a national team competitions - for France. Having played college basketball at San Diego State University in the USA, he was part of the French team that competed at the 2007 U20 European Championship in Slovenia. He lined up alongside San Antonio Spurs guard Nando De Colo.

Cheriet told Boulazac's website: "I am proud to represent Algeria. (Although) I have played international competition before when I was younger, this is something different."

Bilal is aware of the task ahead of him and his team, especially as he coached Algeria at previous Afrobasket tournaments.

In March, Algeria were drawn in Group A alongside tournament hosts Ivory Coast, Egypt and Senegal.

"These are big teams of Africa, but in 2001 no one expected us to reach the finals and we did it," Bilal recalled.

"Our main objective is developing this team and competing for podium places in 2015. But this does not stop us dreaming high. You never know what might happen.

"The training camp in Serbia has allowed us to give a chance to all players," he explained.

Algeria last played at a major international tournament in 2002, at the FIBA World Championship held in Indianapolis.

Bilal was at the helm of the team as they squared off against the USA, China, Germany, Venezuela and Lebanon.

In order to return to a world class event, Algeria would need to finish in the top three of the Afrobasket in order to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup to be staged in Spain.

"We'll see what happens," Bilal said. "But we must focus seriously on our youth teams."

FIBA