Soudani, the No2 aiming to take centre stage

Algeria head coach Milovan Rajevac must be the envy of many of his peers. In stars like Islam Slimani, Riyad Mahrez, Sofiane Feghouli and Yacine Brahimi, he has a wealth of attacking weapons in Europe’s top leagues to choose from, each capable of carving open any defence unfortunate enough to stand in their way. It therefore comes as no surprise that Les Fennecs scored an impressive 25 goals in qualifying for the African Cup of Nations 2017, nine more than established rivals such as Tunisia and Congo DR. 

However, the identity of their principal attacking threat throughout the campaign was less predictable. Often used to playing second fiddle to his illustrious team-mates, Dynamo Zagreb forward El Arabi Hilal Soudani finished the qualification stages as his team’s top goalscorer, finding the net on no fewer than seven occasions. His brace in the 6-0 victory over Lesotho at the start of September, Algeria’s first competitive fixture under Rajevac, went a long way to helping his country secure top place in Group J. Boosted by the result,Les Verts now go into the first match of the qualifying tournament for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ against Cameroon in the best possible shape.

“Confidence is always crucial, both as a striker and as a team. Winning matches is a habit, just like scoring goals. It’s all about momentum, so we can’t afford to slip up against Cameroon. The three points are vital to get the ball rolling. We can’t doubt ourselves for one minute. We need to play with confidence, right from the off. The way we start will be key,” the forward underlined when he met up with FIFA.com.

With 20 goals from his 38 caps, Soudani is this Algeria team’s second most prolific striker behind Islam Slimani, who has netted 23 times for the national side. In Croatia, where he plays his club football, he is also currently second in the scoring …

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