ON THE BRINK

Algeria recently managed to put them on the verge of being in the World Cup 2014 after the 1-0 win over Mali. This result has meant that they will be finishing the group stages as the outright champions of their group. They have 15 points from the six matches played in the group stages.

This is seven points ahead of the second placed Mali. After the match, Algeria’s manager Vahid Halilhodzic said that he is extremely delighted with the performance of his players. He has also expressed his confidence that Algeria will be at the 2014 World Cup.

This would be a great achievement from the nation given the amount of low profile players they have in the squad. It is only in the recent years that they have been emerging as a strong nation in African football. Algeria going to the play-off round as one of the top seeds along with the likes of Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cape Verde, and Ghana. They could be facing the likes of Cameroon, Egypt, and Burkina Faso in the play-offs. Despite these being extremely strong opponents, Halilhodzic says that Algeria have enough quality in their ranks to be able to seal a place in the World Cup.

This would be a prestigious achievement for the nation, who could be playing alongside the likes of Spain and Italy.
“I am totally satisfied with the players’ performance against Mali, especially as the latter was not an easy opponent with its highly rated fighting spirit. I hope we will not be paired alongside certain teams. I prefer not to identify them. Regardless of the identity of our next opponent, we will do our best to reach the finals and it would be special for me as I failed to achieve it as a player and I left Ivory Coast after guiding them there,” said Halilhodzic.