Farayi Mungazi BBC Sport

Madjer played at the 1982 World Cup finals

Strange as it may seem, Algeria were once African champions - in 1990, to be precise.

Even more startling, there was a time when many teams up and down the continent quivered in the face of the Desert Foxes.

Rabah Madjer, Ali Fergani and Lakhdar Belloumi were names whose mere mention could frighten the life out of opponents.

Now, Madjer and his retired colleagues can only look on in frustration at the crumbled remains of a once fearsome football power.

From being one of the most dominant and virile forces in African football, the Algerians can no longer swim in the deep waters of international competition without yelling for lifeguards.

The 2006 World Cup qualifiers provided proof, were it needed, of Algeria's decline as a football power on the continent.

Played 10, won one, drawn five and four lost. Surely, nothing will reflect better the depths that the Algerians have plummeted to.

Come to think of it, we are talking about a country that has reached the World Cup finals twice - in 1982 and 1986.

If you are an Algerian, you can rant and rave and cry all day long, the fact remains the Desert Foxes have veered between mediocrity and utter ineptitude for the past decade.

So what has happened? After all, this is a nation that caused a massive football earthquake at the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain by beating West Germany 2-1.

Much has been written about and presented as facts to highlight the decline of Algerian football.

There are some aspects of life that are not black and white, and this is one of them.

It is easy to pass on the excuse that this is a young team that is being built for the future. But that is what everyone seems to have been saying for a long time now.

Fergani has coached the Desert Foxes

As I see it, there are two deep-rooted problems in Algeria, and you can trace them back to bungling administrators.

For a start, just look at the game of musical chairs they play on the coaching issue.

When the legendary Rabah Madjer was appointed with much fanfare in 2001, we were told that he could do no wrong and Algerian football was finally on its way.

Then came critical remarks he made about the Algerian Football Federation and suddenly the authorities were very emphatic in their belief that he was not up to the job and had to go.

Since Madjer's departure in 2002, five more coaches have been passed through Algeria's revolving door. All of which means players have had to cope with six different regimes in four years.

What should also not be overlooked is the fact that modern-day Desert Foxes squads tend to be dominated by players of Algerian origin who were born in Europe, especially France.

Granted, every team needs its best players but Algeria's obsession with Europe-born players seems to have alienated local players and created factions within the squad.

It is certainly an issue that has split Algeria's football fraternity right down the middle, as I discovered during my recent visit there to cover the African men's basketball championship.

With the Desert Foxes out of both the African Nations and World Cups, it is time for the football bigwigs in the North African country to sit down and chalk out a road map for the future.

I do not know if Algeria's glory days will ever be back, but I yearn for it. I believe a bad Algerian team is bad for African football.