Finally, Les Fennecs of Algeria will get a feel of their first World Cup match since 1986 when they face Slovenia on June 13 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Pietersburg. Algeria vs Slovenia will close Match-day 1 in Group C as the match will kick off at 11:30 GMT.

Algeria players celebrate.Heroic Captain Antar Yahia Ready For The Challenge

Algeria are experiencing a poor run of form. In the build-up to their 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign, the North Africans suffered a 3-0 defeat to La-Main-de-Thierry-Henri victims the Republic of Ireland. In their final friendly match, they could only beat the UAE 1-0. Algeria haven’t been playing the type of football characterized with passion which fired them into the finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The pressure is now on for Rabah Saadane’s men to do what they have to do: to win their opening World Cup encounter against Europe’s minnows, Slovenia. The Slovenes are now famous for their historic play-off triumph over Russia which gave them tickets to embrace the promise land in the south of the African continent. Algeria should be aware of the hidden potential of this European nation.

 

Certainly, Les Fennecs aren’t taken anything for granted and Antar Yahia, who plays the role of Algeria’s captain since the real captain Yazid Mansouri has lost the coach’s favor to start games, declared ahead of Sunday’s crucial World Cup match:

“My appointment as captain? Well, it’s always a great pride. I’m fully aware of the task ahead.”

Antar Yahia’s first mission will be to lead his team to victory against Slovenia at the Peter Mokaba Stadium. The skipper became his nation’s hero with his winning goal against Egypt which put Algeria through to the 19th edition of the FIFA World Cup. What more can he do come Sunday?

Slovenia Fully Concentrated On The Algeria GameSlovenia celebrate.

England and the USA are the two teams that the public are really looking forward to in Group C. For the underdogs in this group, thinking of passing the next stage of the competition at the expense of the favorites is not only a daring dream, but an enormous task. However, this is not what Slovenia’s Aleksandar Radosavljevic is thinking about at the moment.

The midfielder has made it clear that his side’s mentality was fully focused on the match against Algeria – which will be their first competitive game since their defeat of Russia in Slovenia last year.

“We are not thinking about the USA or England at the moment. We are just thinking about Algeria, and we are confident that we can play well. With every game, we’ll get better and better as the tournament progresses.”

The 31-year-old continued his statement, saying:

“We know that the whole of Slovenia is behind us, so we don’t feel under pressure. We know many people will be cheering for us in South Africa and back home. We need to play well to galvanise this support. But, we are confident that we will do so.

“We aren’t even think or talking about who will win the World Cup. How other teams will perform doesn’t enter our minds. We are entirely focusing on giving ourselves the best chance.”

So it looks like Algeria may not benefit from any complacency factor from their opponents. Slovenia have won four out of their last five matches. The only defeat they endured during this recent run came against Russia.

Either way, it proved to be of no importance in the end as they won the return leg of the play-off to cruise into the 2010 World Cup finals. Can Slovenia get their first points in a World Cup tournament when they battle it out against Algeria on Sunday?