Hadj Moussa shrugs off extra time as Algeria march into last eight

The Desert Foxes needed extra time on Tuesday night to see off a stubborn Congolese outfit, with the tie edging towards penalties before substitute Adil Boulbina struck the decisive goal to send his side into the last eight.

The win sends Algeria into the last eight, where they will face Nigeria in Marrakesh on Sunday and Moussa was quick to acknowledge the quality of the West Africans. 

"It's a good team of Congo, with good players. As I said before, we also have good players and a match in the knockout stage, as we know very well, is 120 minutes," said Moussa.

"We scored in the last 5-10 minutes, so we're very happy that we've qualified – that's the main thing."

At a packed Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat, where the majority were Algerian fans, Moussa believes they spurred them on.

"They're incredible and they know it very well, they're always there and they support us in every match. When we arrived here, it felt like we're playing at home with all the fans supporting us throughout the match, so we're very happy," he added.

Moussa concluded by looking ahead to their clash with the Super Eagles. 

"We know very well that Nigeria are a good team, there's [Ademola] Lookman and [Victor] Osimhen – two Nigerian former African Player of the Year winners. 

"But we also have an Algerian former African Player of the Year winner in Riyad [Mahrez], so we're going to try and give our all," Moussa concluded.

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