Don't want this dream to end: Algeria's Slimani

Curitiba (Brazil), June 28 (IANS/EFE) Algerian striker Islam Slimani gushed over his team's advance to the FIFA World Cup Round of 16, saying "it was a dream come true" and hopes that the journey of the 'Desert Warriors' does not end at this stage of the tournament.

Algeria will take on three-time champions Germany in Porto Alegre June 30 for a place in the quarterfinals, reports EFE.

"We came to Brazil aiming to get through the group phase. Now that we've done it, we can be proud but we shouldn't be happy to stop here. You always want more and we're hoping to keep this dream going. I don't want anybody to wake me up yet," Slimani said.

"Things went really well for us in our previous game and we knew that we were in with a good chance. We got it into our heads that we could do it and we did," he added after his team's 1-1 draw against Russia.

On his goal against Russia, which insured the team's qualification, Slimani said: "It was a really important goal because we started the game badly. They scored very early and that changed everything. We kept believing in ourselves and fought for every ball."

"I'd said that reaching the next round was more than just a mission, it was a dream. So to achieve it is a dream comes true."

On the next fixture, the forward said: "The Germans are playing very well and everyone knows what they're capable of. We're clearly the underdogs but we're confident we can put in a great performance. We'll have to be more focused than ever before and play our very best football."

--IANS/EFE

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