Crimson-and-blue jerseys mingled with those of The Greens, the Marching Jayhawks followed their usual pregame basketball setlist with the national anthem “Kassaman” and, in short, the ongoing cultural exchange between Lawrence and Algeria was on full display at Rock Chalk Park on Thursday night.
The Algerian national team, which has been in town since Sunday staying at the DoubleTree as it prepares for the World Cup, staged its community training session at the KU soccer facility.
Before a packed stadium that mixed devoted fans with curious locals, the squad participated in stretching, light drills and games for about an hour. Then, after engaging warmly with fanatical autograph seekers, the Algerians swapped over to a second field, set up where the KU track team practices on the west side of Rock Chalk Park, to help guide young local athletes through a clinic.
The community event was the latest in a series of engagements between Algeria and Lawrence that have drawn the interest and admiration of the soccer world.
A pair of clips of eager Lawrence locals shared by journalist Dean Ammi, who covers Algerian soccer, garnered 10 million and three million impressions on X, and a video put together by Johnny’s Tavern to roll out the red carpet for the Algerians came close to a million as well.
It started when the Algerian supporters welcomed the team to the DoubleTree in full force on Sunday night.
“I was actually leaving baseball Sunday night going home to Kansas City, and they had cars lined (up) K-10 with the flags, and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, what’s going on?'” said Jason Booker, KU’s deputy athletic director who was a key player in the effort to bring Algeria to town. “So that was pretty cool.
“I don’t think we really anticipated (that), because you’re working on it, planning it, but you don’t know who’s going to show up, where they’re coming from, but to see the response for their fans at the hotel and the support has been really cool for the community.”
He said that one of FIFA’s requirements is that teams host a community event like the one on Thursday, adding that it is expected to be the only such event during Algeria’s stay. KU Athletics worked on marshaling its marketing and game-day staff to enact something resembling “sort of what we do on kind of football or soccer game days” for the training session.
“They’re super appreciative,” Booker said of the Algerians. “The team, and Brahim, who’s their — I call him the (KU football director of operations) Michael Painter of Algeria — their director of ops, he’s just over the moon. He’s like, ‘You guys have been so accommodating.'”
The training session wrapped up a busy day in Lawrence for the Algerian team, which also toured Allen Fieldhouse, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and Hoglund Ballpark earlier on Thursday.
The Greens will soon get down to business, as their first match against Argentina is set for Tuesday night at 8 p.m. at Arrowhead Stadium.
