ALGIERS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of thousands of Algerians on Saturday poured into the streets of Algiers to welcome their national soccer team who snatched the African Cup of Nations after beating Senegal 1-0 in the final held in Cairo Stadium late on Friday.
The players and the head coach Djamel Belmadi arrived at the International Airport of Algiers at around 1 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), as they were welcomed by Prime Minister Nourredine Bedoui.
Later they were taken on an open-top bus as they were greeted by hundreds of thousands of fans all along the road. Patrols of police and security forces were escorting the bus to avoid any unwanted incidents. The players were waving to the fans and taking selfies to commemorate this historic moments.
More crowds occupied the main squares and streets of Algiers. When the bus arrived at downtown Algiers, the fans exploded in joy as fireworks were shot and klaxons were played loudly.
The bus made a tour to the main streets of Algiers before heading up to El Mouradia suburb in upper Algiers, where they were congratulated by interim President Abdelkader Bensalah with several high ranking political and military officials.
Algeria won its first African Cup here in Algiers in 1990. This generation of players led by Manchester City ace Riyad Mahrez managed finally to add the second trophy to the North African team's silverware.
