Africa News
"Obsession to win" needed against England, says Algeria's Yebda
Jun 17, 2010, 21:13 GMT
Cape Town - Algeria must play with an 'obsession to win' to beat England and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the next round of the World Cup, Algeria midfielder Hassan Yebda said Thursday.
Both teams are both keen to shake off disappointing opening game performances in their second Group C match in Cape Town's Green Point stadium on Friday night.
Yebda said that Algeria needed to pull out the kind of performance that saw them gain a surprise victory over Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt in their qualifying play-off match.
'Had we lost, we would have been eliminated,' he said of the Egypt game. 'The same goes for tomorrow. We should go on with the same absolute obsession to win.'
Algeria lost 1-0 to Slovenia due to a mistake by keeper Faouzi Chaouchi in the opening match, while a similar blunder by England keeper Robert Green consigned Fabio Capello's men to a 1-1 draw with the US.
Algeria boss Rabah Saadane said he had yet to decide whether to play Chaouchi, who twisted his knee in training this week.
The US play Slovenia earlier on Friday, and regardless of the result there a defeat for Algeria will see them go out of the tournament.
Saadane said his team would go out to win the game, and would not play as defensively.
'We've seen how they play, we have no complexes,' he said. 'I trust my team and we will give our best.'
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