No room for sentiment when we take on Switzerland, says Algeria boss Petkovic

VANCOUVER: Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic dismissed suggestions that his familiarity with the Switzerland players will make any difference when the two sides meet in the World Cup last 32 on Thursday (Jul 2).

The 62-year-old Bosnian-born coach has a long history in Swiss football, playing for and coaching a variety of teams before taking charge of the Switzerland senior men's team between 2014 and 2021, but he doesn't expect that to be any help when Thursday's match kicks off. 

"The world of football has become universal, everyone knows each other. There are no real secrets left in the game. I don't think it's a huge advantage to know someone or someone else," Petkovic told a press conference.

"Just as I know the players, the players know me. And it's a huge pleasure to come up against them, it will be lovely to meet and greet them. But after that, the players will go out there on the pitch. And I'm certainly expecting a tough game. And in order to win the match, we need to give 120 per cent against a very decent Switzerland side."

Algeria scraped through to the last 32, losing their opener 3-0 to Argentina before beating Jordan and drawing 3-3 with Austria in their final game, and Petkovic gave his usual blunt assessment of his side ahead of their knockout game. 

"We have conceded too many goals - of our seven goals we conceded, five of them have come from outside the penalty area. That also comes down to the quality of the opposition players, as we saw in our opening match," he said.

"The very positive thing is that we've scored five goals. We made it through to the knockout stage. This is only the second group of Algerian players that have made it through to the knockout stage in a World Cup.

"We need to take that as a