Halilhodzic hails ´true Algerian football´

Coach Vahid Halilhodzic hailed his side for displaying “true Algerian football” in their final FIFA World Cup warm-up against Romania.

The African nation picked up a 2-1 victory over Romania on Wednesday, with Nabil Bentaleb and El Arbi Soudani finding the net in an international friendly marred by crowd trouble.

But Halilhodzic chose to focus on his players in his post-match press conference, praising them for their efforts in both Wednesday’s match and the 3-1 win over Armenia at the weekend.

“Both teams played at a high level,” he said. “Romania are a very tough opponent. These two results are more than satisfactory.

“At moments, we were playing true Algerian football. (It is) too bad we were not as effective as we would have liked to be.

“We experimented a lot, but I’m satisfied with the results.

“Today was perhaps the best match we played offensively.”

Halilhodzic also reserved special praise for Hassan Yebda, who was chosen ahead of Crystal Palace’s Adlene Guedioura for the tournament in Brazil.

“Yebda played very well,” he is quoted as saying by Le Buteur. “While he is not yet at the top, he will be even better by the World Cup.”

Algeria will line up in Group H alongside Belgium, Russia and South Korea at the upcoming World Cup.