{"id":45436,"date":"2026-01-10T23:59:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T22:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=45436"},"modified":"2026-01-11T00:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T23:00:04","slug":"derradjis-heartfelt-words-after-algerias-afcon-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=45436","title":{"rendered":"Derradji&#8217;s Heartfelt Words After Algeria&#8217;s AFCON Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Algiers, DZWatch<\/strong> \u2013 Renowned Algerian commentator Hafid Derradji has shared his thoughts following Algeria&#8217;s elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations. Despite the quarter-final loss to Nigeria (2-0), Derradji believes the national team can hold their heads high.<\/p>\n<p>Derradji acknowledged Nigeria&#8217;s strength, stating they deserved the victory and progression to the semi-finals. However, he also pointed to the refereeing performance as a significant factor, suggesting it unsettled the Algerian players early in the match with a series of yellow cards.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nigeria didn&#8217;t need the referee to win,&#8221; Derradji commented, implying that the officiating was unnecessarily provocative.<\/p>\n<p>He further suggested that the Algerian team, including coach Vladimir Petkovic, were aware of the challenge Nigeria posed and that an exit at this stage was a distinct possibility given the circumstances surrounding the game.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the disappointment, Derradji extended congratulations to the Nigerian team on their deserved victory. He also sent a message of pride and support to Algerian fans, emphasizing the team&#8217;s resilience and the emergence of a new generation of players capable of inspiring hope.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Losing is not being defeated,&#8221;<\/em> Derradji concluded, expressing optimism for the future. He believes this generation of players is sending a strong message that they will be ready for the 2026 World Cup, with a stronger spirit and greater ambitions. He affirmed the Algerian spirit of resilience, stating, &#8220;In Algeria, when we lose&#8230;we are not defeated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?cat=40\">More Sports articles on DZWatch<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\">DZWatch &#8211; Your News Portal<\/a><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Algiers, DZWatch \u2013 Renowned Algerian commentator Hafid Derradji has shared his thoughts following Algeria&#8217;s elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations. Despite the quarter-final loss to Nigeria (2-0), Derradji believes the national team can hold their heads high.<\/p>\n<p>Derradji&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","iawp_total_views":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45436"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45438,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45436\/revisions\/45438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}