Casablanca- Following Algeria’s victory over Russia in their latest 2014 World Cup match, Russia’s coach, Fabio Capello, accused Algerian supporters of using laser to distract the Russian goalkeeper as he was trying to stop the long ball that eventually tied the score (1-1), granting Algeria qualification to the next round.
“He was blinded by the laser beam,” stated Capello, quoted by The Guardian. “There are pictures. You can see that in the footage. This not an excuse, it is a fact. There was a laser. I have never come up with excuses to get by in my entire life.”
A video uploaded to YouTube and shared by many news websites clearly shows green laser beam aimed at Russia’s goalkeeper’s eyes as he was following a long ball passed to Algerian players within the penalty box.
The ball eventually found its way to Algerian player Islam Slimani’s head, who tied the score with Russia (1-1), thus granting his team the qualifying one point it needed to rank second after Belgium in group H.
At a press conference in Brazil, Fabio Capello blamed the laser beam aimed at Russia goalkeeper for Russia’s elimination.
However, Russia’s goalkeeper, Igor Akinfeev, seemed uncertain as to whether or not the laser beam caused him to miss the long ball, leaving room for an Algerian player to score.
“Did I miss the ball because of it? I don’t really know,” he told Izvestia newspaper, according to RT. “Blame me, blame the laser,” he added.
After their triumph over Russia, the Algerians are scheduled to play on Monday against Germany in Porto Alegre. Both teams have not met since the 1982 World Cup, in which Algeria, in its first-ever appearance at a World Cup, won 2-1.
Edited by Timothy Filla