{"id":62836,"date":"2025-10-12T18:08:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T18:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics"},"modified":"2025-10-12T18:26:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T18:26:37","slug":"petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics","title":{"rendered":"Petkovic Hails Mahrez for Silencing Critics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Algeria head coach Vladimir Petkovic has lavished praise on Riyad Mahrez, describing the veteran winger as a player who thrives under pressure and continues to prove his class despite years in the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMahrez has silenced a lot of critics,\u201d Petkovic said. \u201cHe\u2019s used to pressure; he\u2019s a top-level player.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Swiss tactician\u2019s words come as Mahrez continues to deliver commanding performances for the Desert Foxes, combining experience, creativity, and leadership to guide the team through a crucial phase of World Cup qualifying.<\/p>\n<p>Mahrez, who recently confirmed that the 2026 World Cup will be his last, remains the heartbeat of the Algerian side\u2014his calmness on the ball and decisive playmaking still unmatched. Petkovic\u2019s admiration underlines not just Mahrez\u2019s talent but also his enduring professionalism and mentality at the highest level.<\/p>\n<p>Under Petkovic\u2019s guidance, Algeria are blending experienced campaigners like Mahrez with a wave of younger talents. And as the coach rightly pointed out, the captain\u2019s influence\u2014on and off the field\u2014continues to set the tone for a side determined to reclaim its place among Africa\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Lesotho<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. Algeria head coach Vladimir Petkovic has lavished praise on Riyad Mahrez, describing the veteran winger as a player who thrives under pressure and continues to prove his class despite years in the spotlight. \u201cMahrez has silenced a lot of critics,\u201d Petkovic said. \u201cHe\u2019s used to pressure; he\u2019s a top-level player.\u201d The Swiss [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":62835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-62836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Petkovic Hails Mahrez for Silencing Critics - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Algeria head coach Vladimir Petkovic has lavished praise on Riyad Mahrez, describing the veteran winger as a player who ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Petkovic Hails Mahrez for Silencing Critics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Algeria head coach Vladimir Petkovic has lavished praise on Riyad Mahrez, describing the veteran winger as a player who ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-12T18:08:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-12T18:26:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/10\/sm_1760280917.128398.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Petkovic Hails Mahrez for Silencing Critics\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-12T18:08:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-12T18:26:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics\"},\"wordCount\":203,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/10\/sm_1760280917.128398.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/petkovic-hails-mahrez-for-silencing-critics\",\"name\":\"Petkovic Hails Mahrez for Silencing Critics - 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