As former Africa’s highest rated team to becoming the third’s best, Algeria’s captain, Carl Medjani believes the 3-1 loss to Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers would diminish their rating as a top team in the continent.
Medjani told Lebuteur.com after the encounter described the Nigerian side as a talented team. “We played against a very large team, composed of very talented players, and playing in very big clubs in Europe. Otherwise, we are very disappointed with this defeat, but that does not diminish our value, because in the second half we showed what we were able with a first-class performance,” Medjani said.
He, however, ruled out giving excuses for their defeat, “I’m not looking for excuses, only in parallel, we do not have the right to miss so many opportunities to score, that’s why I say that efficiency has failed us. I repeat, we played against very good Nigerian players who knew how to put us in difficulty.
“When we play Nigeria, it is not easy, with all due respect to the other teams we go or have faced. I say that in this kind of game we measure and we see the progress that remains to be made. We have been considered a great team for a long time, but I say that we are not yet, we still have to work very hard to reach the level we are trying to reach,” he added.
The player is not giving up on their chances of making it to Russia 2018, “No, I do not agree, because nothing is lost yet, there are still games, and we will fight until the last minute, although we know it will be very complicated. We must not lie, we came across a very high group, but in football everything is possible, we must not lose hope but we must remain realistic,” Medjani said.
Meanwhile, President of the Algerian Football Federation, Mohamed Raouraoua, was very disappointed with the defeat but said: “It is true that there was a very good reaction in the second half, only it was not enough to be able to score goals. We lost the match that we should not lose, because of this inefficiency in front. But we did not succeed on the decisive occasions. Our players have made a lot of effort, but the result has not. There are still points to be taken, but it will be very difficult”
