Player profile

Algeria’s first-choice goalkeeper since his debut in 2002, Gaouaoui’s place in the team is far from secure after months of struggling for form and fitness. He missed this year’s Africa Cup of Nations with acute appendicitis, which required emergency surgery.

On his international return in March, he gifted Serbia the opening goal when he came for a cross and missed it. A thigh muscle injury in April compounded his stop-start campaign.

Gaouaoui played in every minute of Algeria’s first 12 World Cup qualifiers. He insisted he would not return home if he conceded three goals away to Egypt in November – he narrowly avoided a self-imposed exile following a 2-0 defeat, but a yellow card meant he was suspended for the subsequent play-off victory against the same opponents.

The 32-year-old has spent his entire career in Algeria, winning two league titles with previous club Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, Gaouaoui is the only active player in the world whose name contains seven consecutive vowels.