Hommam Al Nassim 
The coach of the Algerian national football team, Vladimir Petkovic, expressed his disappointment after the “Greens” lost to their guest, the Guinea national team, 2-1, yesterday evening, Thursday, in the third round of the African qualifiers for the World Cup.
In the press conference after the match, Petkovic explained that they lost a “decisive match” despite the “Greens” controlling the course of the match. He explained that his team failed to exploit the available opportunities and committed individual errors that cost the team two goals. He congratulated the Guinean national team, which played “in its distinctive style and achieved victory.”
Petkovic called for maintaining the positive spirit and working to restore physical and psychological strength, noting that the team has an important match against Uganda.
Petkovic also explained that the Algerian team faced the Guinea team, which has a strong physical defense, which made the task of penetrating from the middle difficult. He pointed out that the Algerian team has 7 matches, including the return match against Guinea, and it must score the largest possible number of points, and find… Players who are physically and psychologically ready to achieve positive results against Uganda.
Petkovic confirmed that he bears responsibility for the loss, noting that it is easy to criticize the coach’s choices after the defeat, and hinted at the possibility of him committing tactical errors, stressing that he could not have included Ismail Bennacer, the Italian Milan midfielder, alongside Ramez Zerrougui and Nabil Bentaleb, and refused to comment on the situation. Not summoning some prominent players such as Mahrez, Slimani and Belaili.
For his part, Issa Mandi, Villarreal’s Spanish defender, described the loss as a “huge disappointment”, despite the great efforts made before the decisive match in the qualification race, explaining that the Algerian team did not perform at the required level.
It is noteworthy that Vladimir Petkovic (born August 15, 1963) is a former professional Croatian-Bosnian football coach. He took over the coaching of the Algerian national team on February 29, 2024. His appointment came as a successor to coach Djamel Belmadi after a disappointing performance in the African Cup of Nations.
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