Algeria led 1-0 at home in their World Cup qualifier against Nigeria though the match ended in a draw
milovan-rajevacAlgerian national team coach Milovan Rajevac is upset after failing to kick off their World Cup qualifying Group B campaign with a win after throwing away their lead to draw 1-1 at home to Cameroon on Sunday.
The hosts took an early lead, with Leicester City striker Islam Slimani flicking a corner into the path of the unmarked Hilal Soudani to head home from close range after seven minutes.
They looked lively in the early stages and seemed capable of doubling their lead but Cameroon caught them by surprise with a 24th-minute equaliser.
“We played to win — all the players did their best to achieve the target,” Rajevac told the post game press conference.
“We are upset with this result as we failed to win over Cameroon in the beginning of the qualifiers,” he said, explaining “if we replayed the game again I would make some changes in the starting lineup.”
“I have to watch the game again to understand the reason for our dip in form after leading,” the Serbian coach added.
The Desert Warriors, who have drawn in Group B of the qualifiers alongside Cameroon, Nigeria and Zambia, will visit Nigeria in the second round on 7 November.
Nigeria top the group with three points following their 2-1 away victory over Zambia, two ahead of Algeria and Cameroon.
“We will try to call-up the applicable squad for the Nigeria game, who are leading the group,” the Algeria coach said.
“We will face a difficult opponent in Nigeria.”
“We will make use of Cameroon’s draw and work not to repeat our mistakes in the coming games,” the 62-year-old tactician concluded.
Ahram Online Sports