Algeria's Essaid Belkalem carries teammate Abdelmoumene Djabou on his shoulders as they celebrate after making it into the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time with a 1-1 draw against Russia.

Reuters/Curitiba

Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic heaped praise on the competitive spirit of his Algerian side as they broke new ground on Thursday and qualified for the second round of the World Cup.

"I love it as a coach to see my team fighting like this," he said after the battling 1-1 draw which ensured the North Africans finish second in Group H behind Belgium.

"We'll get better. Maybe in the next round against Germany," he said of their next match in the second round in Porto Alegre on Monday.

"They are a huge team. It's going to be very complicated for us. We are small Algeria against big Germany. I hope the Brazilians (supporters) will get behind us. I know the Brazilians like technical football and we can do that. We can satisfy you even if we are not at the level of Brazil."

Progress past the first round at the fourth attempt for Algeria presented a new and positive image of Algerian football.

"We have got a lot of support from the Arab world, from countries in the former Yugoslavia, even in Brazil, People love our skills and our strength. I can only be proud of the way the team played," Halilhodzic said.

"But let's not go too far ahead of ourselves. There are many better teams than us," added the Franco-Bosnian coach.

But despite his obvious delight, Halilhodzic managed to keep up his penchant for testy encounters with reporters, refusing to answer questions about how the Algerian players will approach the upcoming Ramadan fast nor about his own future with the team.  

Meanwhile, Russian coach Fabio Capello said his goalkeeper was ‘blinded’ by lasers for the decisive goal scored by Algeria which sent his team out of the World Cup.

Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev failed to reach a cross which was headed home by Islam Slimani in the 60^th minute to earn Algeria a point.

Television images showed what appeared to be green laser beams flashing across the keeper’s body as he tried to reach the cross.

“Our goalkeeper was affected by a laser 10 seconds before the goal. He was blinded by a laser, there are photos, films of it,” Capello said.

“I’m not looking for excuses. I accept defeats,” added the Italian.

Akinfeev made a blunder in the opening Group H game against South Korea, letting in a shot from Lee Keun-ho to allow the Asian side take the lead in the 1-1 draw.

Use of lasers by fans is an increasingly common problem in North African football.

Last year, the second leg of the African Champions League final in Cairo between Egypt’s Al-Ahly and South Africa’s Orlando Pirates was badly affected by green lasers beamed into players faces.