Algeria’s defenders will solve attack problem, says Belhadj

Algeria’s Nadir Belhadj told Echorouk in an interview the team’s defenders will solve the attack problem as they will have to help the strikers and seize any opportunity to score goals in the World Cup matches.

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• You are in South Africa now. Are you ready for your first match against Slovenia?
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• Thanks to God, everything is OK. The conditions in the hotel and the training stadium are good. All the players recovered. That will give us strong to enter the competition.
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• Contrarily to the match against Ireland, you did well in the match against the UAE. Can we say you recovered your previous level?
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• Yes, I recovered my real level. I hope that I will continue like that until the end of the World Cup. In the match against Ireland, I did not show my real level because I was suffering from some pains in my leg. I think I did my job in the match against the UAE in Germany. I will try to work more to recover all my capacities before the match against Slovenia.
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• Many goals have been scored against Algeria in official and friendly matches. What do you think the reason is?
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• I think the problem consists in the absence of some principal players. Algeria has not played with the team who played in the qualifications since the African Cup. In the last match against the UAE, no goal was scored against us and this is thanks to Antar Yahia, Bougherra and Helliche. That gives us more confidence.
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•  You played as left midfielder in the match against Ireland. Did you feel good in this position or do you prefer to play as defender?
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• I got used to play in two positions in my club Portsmouth but I am ready to play in any position the national coach wants. The important point is the role I play in the pitch and not the position.
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• Algeria’s defence line is weak and no goal has been scored since the African Cup. What is the reason for that?
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• The problem is not in the strikers nor is it in the defenders. Sometimes, players pass through difficult times and do not score for a long period. We should find solutions before it is late.
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• What are the solutions you suggest?
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• In any team, all the players can score. We, defenders and mid-fielders, we will try to help the strikers to score by passing the ball to them.
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• You will play a very difficult match against Slovenia. Do you think that you have chances of victory?
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• All the World Cup matches are difficult and we have to be strong in the competition if we want to continue and reach the second round. I believe that victory over Slovenia would open the door to us for qualifying to the second round.
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• Slovenia’s players told reporters they are ready to beat Algeria and the Algerian players’ level in the matches against the UAE and Ireland gives them priority to continue the competition. What do you think about that?
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• Every player in Slovenia is free to say whatever he wants. I will not respond to them. Football is played in the pitch and not in newspapers and television.
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• Algeria will also play against England. Do you think that Algeria can face this challenge and do a good job in that match?
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• We will play the match against England with no complex. Pressure will be on the British team who will have to win. Because of that, we will play all our chances. It is known that the Algerian players show a good level when they play against strong teams.
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• What about the US team?
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• The US team have many excellent players and they play modern football based on rapidity. Because of that, we need to be careful with this team.
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• You will play with the presence of thousands of English and American fans. Are you afraid that you would be influenced by pressure?
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• We got used to play with the presence of thousands of fans in Algeria. I think that pressure will be on our adversaries and not on us. Algeria’s fans will go to South Africa to help us. I hope it will be crowded there.