Mehdi Lacen: “All the players are responsible for losing goal versus Slovenia”

There was a somber atmosphere in the changing rooms of the Algeria line-up after the 1-nil setback versus Slovenia as all the players were in very low spirits in the face of this unpalatable defeat which they did not deserve, they argued.

• The chairman of the Algerian football federation, Mohamed Raouraoua, sought to perk them up after the Slovenia game but the players remained astounded and listless at the dismal turn of fate and their unexpected setback.
• Midfielder Mehdi Lacen told Echorouk that the responsibility of the goal sustained by the national squad after Chaouchi’s glaring mistake in intercepting the floating goal should be borne by all the team players and not only by goalkeeper Fawzi Chaouchi.
• Lacen also said that the players had made big and strenuous efforts on the pitch but they had unfortunately not succeeded in scoring any goal on account of several adverse parameters.
• For his part, Karim Matmour pinned the blame on the coach’s tactical scheme which he said did not allow him to score goals.
• Matmour said that the coach’s tactic of placing only one striker in the Algerian forward line did not allow him at all to play at will and  to catch out the Slovenian defense by scoring goals on many occasions.