Algeria captain Carl Medjani has said that he still believes his side could qualify for the 2018 Russia World Cup despite their poor start to the qualification campaign.
The Desert Foxes have only managed one point out of the two games and sit at the bottom behind Zambia, Cameroon and Nigeria in the renowned “group of death”.
The 31-year-old CD Leganes central defensive midfielder believes that Algeria still has a shot at qualification even at the expense of the group leaders Nigeria who have managed the maximum six points from the first two games.
Speaking to the press after the 3-1 loss to Nigeria, Medjani declared,
“We can still qualify for the World Cup,”
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“We need to win our remaining four matches and hope the Super Eagles lose a game before their final match in Algeria.”[/perfectpullquote]
Star studded Algeria despite the disappointing performance in Uyo are one of the best team on the continent and were considered favorites to win the group with stars like Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani leading the attack.
They were however held to a 1-1 draw by a defensive Cameroon side in their opening fixture before losing to Nigeria over the weekend.
Nigeria will face Cameroon next before playing the reverse fixture against the Desert Foxes in August 2017. On the other hand, Algeria will face Zambia in Ndola before they welcome them four days later.
Later October 2017, Nigeria will host Zambia and as Algeria face off with Cameroon, before the qualifying series are rounded up on November 6th with the Super Eagles away in Algeria and Cameroon out in Zambia.
The current Group B standings.
| Team |
P |
W |
L |
D |
Points |
| Nigeria
|
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Cameroon
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Zambia
|
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Algeria
|
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Featured Photo: Carl Medjani in National Colors. (Photo from Getty Images)
