Arezki Remmane, the head coach of Algeria, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance after they defeated Somalia 2-0 to open their TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign.

Remmane said that it took a lot of effort to defeat a tenacious Somali team.

“The match was difficult as I had predicted with the tournament’s opening game, but we managed to win.

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“We scored the first goal from a mistake from the opponent and in the second half, we corrected some mistakes and made the second goal.

“It was a good start and now we will try to recover for the second game,” the coach said.

He added; “It was important that we won our first game and started the competition in the best possible way.

“These first three points will boost our motivation for the remaining matches in the group.”

Additionally, he admitted that he spent a lot of time psychologically preparing his team before the game, particularly because the Somali team had a solid reputation despite making their debut.

“Somalia won the qualifying tournament against very good countries.

“We worked before facing them, especially on a mental level, to free the players and allow them to confront the game with confidence,” the coach said.

The team will approach their upcoming match against Senegal with serenity, according to Remmane, who is already looking forward to it.

“Senegal is considered one of the favorites because they are a strong team. Our match against them will be like all matches, because all the teams have the same level in the group stage,” the coach offered.

The match between Senegal and Algeria is slated to take place at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Tuesday.