“Training in South Africa brings us closer to World Cup,” says Algeria’s defender Antar Yahia

Algeria’s defender Antar Yahia believes the upcoming qualifying match against home-team Zambia will be extremely difficult in view of the adverse environment especially the paltry pitch of the stadium.

• Did you watch the match against Egypt once again?
• Yes. I realized then that we were better that the Egyptian squad in all the aspects.
• But Egyptian reports said some players and members of the Egyptian staff suffered from food poisoning?
• Thanks Allah. The match was broadcast live. Everyone saw that the Egyptian squad was enthusiastic and the difference of levels was pretty clear.
• In the match against Egypt, your head was hit. Have you recovered?
• Thank Allah, I am doing well. I felt dizzy when Ahmed Hassan hit me. I was not ok until the doctor sprayed water on me.
• How do you expect the match against Zambia due to be held on June 20?
• The Zambian squad plays good football but the problem is in the turf of the stadium. We have been told its quality is very bad.
• So, you have fears over the turf?
• We are not afraid but we wished we played on better turf to improve our way of playing.
• What do you promise your supporters of?
• I promise them to do our best to achieve a positive result in Zambia and continue our killing commute to the World Cup.
• The technical staff chose to train in South Africa. Do you think it will be good for you?
• I think that Rabeh Saadane made the best choice. I hope it will be like the training we did in France as it was very useful for us.
• Is the choice of South Africa important for the training ahead of Zambia?
• We realized the importance of participating in the World Cup when we went out to the terminal. It is at the same time with the Intercontinental Cup. It is a good opportunity. I think that the training in Pretoria will boost us because it will make us closer to the atmosphere of the World Cup of which we dream.