The only African teams remaining in the World Cup bowed out as Algeria and Nigeria lost to Germany and France respectively, but not before securing admiration from fans all around the world. Algeria made African and Arab football proud by being the only Arab team in Brazil 2014. Algeria lost to favourites, Germany, 2-1 in the extra time after playing a magnificent 120 minutes. Every football fan and pundit tipped Germany to run Algeria over and reach the quarter-finals smoothly, which was not the case as the Algerian team played one of the best games for an African team in the history of the World Cup and could have easily won the game in original time. From their first game in the tournament, it was obvious that Algeria are in the World Cup to achieve something and not to just take part in three games and go back home. They faced one of the best squads of the World Cup, Belgium, in their first game and lost 2-1 after leading the game for 70 minutes, before Belgium scored two late goals to win the game 2-1. Algeria lost the game, but showed the world what they can do with some fantastic football, especially in the first half where they scored their goal and missed several clear-cut chances to kill off the game, which cost them dear at the end. However, what most impressed about the Algerian team in the tournament is that they never seemed affected by any let downs or setbacks, which showed in their performance against South Korea in their second game of the group stages. They literally destroyed the Asian side as they won 4-2, but could have scored more than six or seven goals thanks to an extraordinary performance in the final third. They finished the first half of the game leading by three goals to nothing and added another goal in the second half between Korea's two goals. Algeria entered the third game against Russia knowing that a draw would mean a place in round 16, while a loss would mean a trip back home and a place for Russia alongside Belgium in round 16. They started the game in the worst scenario possible as they conceded a goal in the 6th minute and Algerian and Arab fans started to feel that heartache is just around the corner. Not becoming fazed and never letting setbacks control them, Algeria attacked aggressively from that moment on till they found the equaliser through their undisputed star Silmani in the middle of the second half, much to the delight of the traveling fans who went crazy after the game. Finally, the Algerian side managed to qualify from the group stages for the first time in their history in awesome fashion as they knocked Korea and Russia out of the tournament to follow league leaders, Belgium, to the next round where they faced Germany. If you know nothing about football and switched on the TV in the middle of the game you will be able to tell who's Germany and who's Algeria as the game was extremely even with both teams having plenty of chances to score. Algeria's players seemed more than determined to cause an upset as they played with freedom and motivation that allowed them to match the Germans for the whole 120 minutes, but only luck denied them a place in the quarter-finals as Germany took their two chances in the extra time before the brave Algerians scored a consolation goal in the last minute of the game. They might have bowed out of the World Cup, but they surely gained the respect of the whole world. Moving to Nigeria, it was more or less the same story, as the Nigerian side bowed out of the World Cup after playing a magnificent game against France, with a rare mistake by the extraordinary Enyeama costing them a place in the quarter-finals. Nigeria started their World Cup with a boring draw against Iran, who defended in numbers and made life very difficult for the Nigerians, who could not find a way to the net as the game ended in a 0-0 draw. The second game saw them come up against a magnificent Bosnia side that lost 2-1 against Argentina in the first game after playing a brilliant match. The game was very entertaining this time as both teams attacked and looked to collect all three points, but it was Nigeria who left with maximum points as Odemwengie's goal settled the tie after Bosnia's Dzeko had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside earlier in the game. The 1-0 win over Bosnia meant Nigeria could guarantee a place in the round 16 if they managed a draw against leaders Argentina or can afford to lose the game if Bosnia avoided defeat against Iran. Nigeria played their best game in the World Cup against Argentina even though they lost it. Prior to the game, it was expected that Messi and co would have a very easy day at office against Nigeria and win the game easily but that was never the case as it ended in a 3-2 win for the South American side, thanks to a lucky strike from left back Rojo after both Messi and Ahmed Musa scored earlier braces earlier. Luckily for the super Eagles, Bosnia managed to defeat Iran 3-1, which guaranteed a place in round 16 for Nigeria in the next round against France. Nigeria more than matched France for more than 80 minutes until the best goalkeeper in the World Cup so far, Enyeama, made a fatal mistake that led to France's first goal via a header from Pogba. Enyeama flapped a corner in awful fashion that left Pogba with the easiest of chances as he headed home the ball into an empty net. The Nigerian side had given their all prior to conceding and did not have the legs or energy to get back in the game until an own goal from Yobo sealed the win for France in the 94th minute. Once again, Nigeria might have bowed out of the World Cup, but their nation can certainly be proud of their brave national team who took it to the wire against the likes of Argentina and France. The writer is a freelance journalist.
