After losing the game against Morocco in the fourth round of the African Cup of Nations Group D qualifiers, Algeria team stars commented on how difficult it will be to qualify for the biennial tournament.

The Algerian Football Federation announced on Sunday that coach Abdelhak Benchikha has resigned from his post as a result of the thrashing from North African rivals, Morocco.

“We need a miracle to qualify for the African Cup of Nations” Algeria star Karim Matmour was quoted as saying on El-Haddaf newspaper after the game. “We suffer from our team’s dip in form.

“The Morocco team was better than us, as they made use of all their chances and edged to find the net four times” the 25-year-old forward confirmed.

Morocco are in the driving seat of Group D with seven points, three ahead of Algeria, Central Africa and Tanzania.

Algeria former captain Rafik Saifi asked the country supporters to back the current players and to forgive their lack of performance.

“We lost a battle but we didn’t lose the war,” Saifi told El-Haddaf on Sunday.

Central Africa will host Tanzania in the same round of the tournament on Sunday, as the two will have a chance to level on points with Morocco.

The group winners will automatically qualify for the biennial tournament while the runner-up will have to wait to find out whether they will finish as one of the best two second-placed teams of the 11 qualifying groups.