Algeria Coach Rabah Saadane admitted he believes his side face an uphill struggle to qualify for the last 16 following their defeat at the hands of Slovenia yesterday.
Algeria Coach Rabah Saadane admitted he believes his side face an uphill struggle to qualify for the last 16 following their defeat at the hands of Slovenia yesterday.
"If we had a positive result, it would have given us more of a chance to go to the second round. Now it has become difficult because we will be facing opponents (England and the USA) who are the pool's top two contenders," he said.
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| Algeria goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi misjudges the flight of the ball. The resulting goal gave Slovenia a 1-0 win yesterday. PIC/GETTY IMAGES |
The match looked like heading towards a draw when Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent for after picking up a second yellow card. The substitutes' send-off allowed Slovenia to push for a win and Robert Koren scored after an error from goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi.
The Slovenian captain struck a long-range shot that Chaouchi misjudged and allowed to bounce into the net after deflecting off his arm in the 79th minute
I am happy with the players. I congratulate them because they have given the best of themselves. There have been mistakes, but that's part of football. It's like [Saturday's] mistake by the English goalkeeper [Robert Green]," Saadane said.
It's part of football. I think that's how you learn to go forward. These are the lessons at the top level. If you make a mistake, you pay immediately."
The turning point of the match was surely Ghezzal's sending-off thoughu00a0 Saadane was not critical of his striker.
"I do not want to incriminate anyone. I think Ghezzal must be self-critical of himself."
