CAN 2025 – Algeria: “Congratulations to Nigeria, they were better than us,” Petkovic shows class

10.01.26 FT AFCON - Africa Cup of Nations

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Following Algeria's elimination by Nigeria (0-2) in the quarter-finals of CAN 2025, Vladimir Petkovic appeared composed and clear-headed at the press conference. The Greens’ head coach acknowledged the superiority of his opponents while also highlighting his team’s limitations in a match where the balance of power became apparent early on.

“We were missing several things. They didn’t let us dribble, there were some refereeing decisions that weren’t easy, but our opponent was particularly strong and showed their quality,” he explained,

also mentioning the physical fatigue carried over from the previous round.

See also: CAN 2025 / Nigeria – Algeria: clash at the end of the match (Video)

Tactically, Petkovic stood by his decisions, making no excuses.

“Football can be played without a number 9 (Bounejdah), that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that the ball wasn’t progressing in those areas,” he analyzed,

before adding:

“I didn’t choose to play with three at the back because I needed players up front. I had several ideas but I went with this one.”

Regarding the refereeing, the coach remained cautious:

“I don’t want to comment on the referee’s match because it’s pointless, but if you watch what happened in the first half you’ll understand.”

Marked by his players’ disappointment, Petkovic wanted to keep things in perspective.

“The players are very down after being knocked out of a competition we believed we could win. That’s football.”

He concluded with dignity:

“Congratulations to Nigeria, they were better than us. In the first half we were too scattered, in the second half it was a bit better.” An early exit, but a statement of intent, looking ahead to what’s next.

Mahdi Zakaria LAZRI |

Editor

Football web writer creating digital sports content with a focus on news, analysis and stories that reflect passion, accuracy and objectivity.

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