Georges Leekens, the head coach of Algeria's
national football team has insisted that his
team won't give up hope of qualifying for the
Russia 2018 World Cup after losing 3-1 to
Nigeria on Saturday.
The Algerians sit bottom of the table, with
Nigeria first with 6 points, Cameroon second
with 2 points while Zambia sits third with a
point, but Leekens feels he will still have hope
of making it to Russia while there is still a
mathematical chance of doing so.
Leekens speaking to journalists said:
“We are still sure of qualifying
mathematically and Nigeria cannot say that
have qualified after two matches. You saw the
way our team played and I believe that
nothing is sure yet even for your team. We
shall go back home to review what we have
done right and wrong.
“You can see that the Algerians played very
well and we created lots of chances which
were not utilized. It was tough for both teams.
I believe that giving up at this stage in not in
our language and we are going to fight on
until we have been mathematically ruled out
of qualifying.”
He also alleged that the Foxes of Algeria were
robbed by the referee in Uyo saying the result
of the Uyo encounter could have been
different had the referee not accepted
Nigeria’s second goal from Mikel Obi when the
score was 1-0.
“Nigeria’s second goal is not valid. There was
indeed an offside position,” the 67-year-old
former Belgium manager said to popular
Algerian newspaper Le Buteur on Sunday.
“The goal somewhat disorganised my players,
especially before the break. If the score had
remained 1-0, we would have returned in the
second half.”
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