- Safiu Kehinde
Algeria’s captain, Riyadh Mahrez, has admitted fear against facing the Super Eagles in the quarterfinals of the ongoing 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Mahrez made this known during a Press Conference held on Friday ahead of the Foxes Saturday’s showdown with the Nigerian national team.
The former Manchester City forward whose late minute free kick knocked the Super Eagles out of the 2019 edition of the tournament acknowledged the attacking threat of the three-time African champion.
“I’m afraid. Of course they’ve scored a lot of goals in this competition.” He said.
Reflecting on the 2019 match between both countries, Mahrez claimed that only few players from the 2019 squad are currently in the Super Eagles team for the 2025 edition.
He however lauded Nigeria’s attacking prowess and presence of top players in the team.
“Obviously when you think about Nigeria, we played them after the African cup in 2019, we played them in a friendly. But yes of course you cannot forget that moment. For me, for the team, and for our country, it was an incredible moment.
“But it is always good to play against a big, strong team. I’m so happy to arrive at this stage again and play against this type of team.
“There are few players who were there in 2019. Offensively, you guys are a bit better than 2019 but Nigeria have always been a very good team. Through the history, they have always had top players and that is how it is now as well.” He said.
On tomorrow’s game, the Algerian captain expressed confidence in his team as he tipped them to pass through the Super Eagles test again.
“I think of course there is a pressure to win the game. But the pressure to win the tournament is a long way to think about.
“Obviously, both teams want to go through. We are both great teams and they will be the best at the game tomorrow. I hope it will be us and we have to make everything to perform in our best way.” He said.