Algeria coach on facing Egypt: We will become enemies for 90 minutes, but things will return to normal

 Algeria national team coach Majid Bougherra expected a strong match against his Egyptian counterpart in the third and final round of the Arab Football Cup Group D in Qatar tomorrow, Tuesday, saying that the two teams are "enemies for 90 minutes in the green rectangle" and then things return to normal.

The two teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals, and the confrontation will be to decide the lead after the two teams were equal in everything before the last round.

The former Algeria defender said, "After two matches, we qualified for the next round and took the first stage. Now we have the last match against Egypt. We are equal in everything. It will be a high-level match for the top of Group D."

Bougherra praised the Egyptian team, saying, "We know the Egyptian team, which has not conceded any goal and scored several goals. They have elements that are accustomed to playing with each other and also have a veteran coach. It will be a summit match at the highest level."

He added: "This type of confrontation I attended as a player, the confrontations between us are always fateful, this time for the sake of leadership."

He pointed out that the preparation time was short, but confirmed the players' readiness to play a strong match in front of full stadiums.

The Algerian coach recalled facing Egypt in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, which witnessed great tension, saying, "For me, everything has become a thing of the past. In 2009, it was true that things went a little out of their sporting scope at the time, but the important thing was that we qualified for the World Cup, and then Egypt won the African Nations Cup."

He stressed that things changed a lot after that, "and everything will return to its normal position immediately after the end of the meeting.

He said, "Everything changed after that. The relationship is still and remains brotherly. We are Muslims and brothers. But when it comes to football, we become little enemies on the green rectangle, but for only 90 minutes, after which things return to normal."

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