Rabah Saadane concedes Algeria will struggle to prolong their World Cup adventure after defeat to Slovenia.
Algeria boss fears second round berth may be beyond his side
Rabah Saadane concedes Algeria will struggle to prolong their World Cup adventure after suffering defeat to Slovenia.
The Africans opened their campaign with a disappointing 1-0 setback on Sunday, with a solitary strike from Robert Koren putting them to the sword.
Little went right for the Algerians in Polokwane, with goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi making a catastrophic error in allowing a tame shot to sneak past him for the only goal of the game.
Saadane's side also saw Abdelkader Ghezzal sent off, with the striker lasting just 15 minutes after entering the fray as a second half substitute.
With Group C encounters against England and the United States to come, it appears Algeria may now be set to fall at the first hurdle.
That is an opinion shared by their coach, with Saadane admitting his side face an uphill battle to make the knockout stages.
"It's going to be more difficult for us now," he said.
"Our great opportunity was today against Slovenia and we missed that opportunity."
Mistakes
While understandably gloomy following a demoralising display, Saadane refused to point the finger of blame at Chaouchi and Ghezzal for their moments of madness.
He added: "Football is full of mistakes and I don't want to blame the two players. I think it was perhaps the state of the turf. Both the ball and the turf were difficult for both goalies.
"The speed and the impact, especially on crosses, was very difficult. The players had to place the balls very carefully."
Saadane has also played down any suggestion that he might consider dropping Chaouchi for Friday's crunch encounter with England in the wake of his costly fumble.
"He is the best goalkeeper we have at the moment. It's out of the question," he said.
"He said sorry. He said sorry to the team. But that's only normal and I don't want to go back over the incident."
