Algeria coach Petkovic admits team were punished for mistakes against Switzerland

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/switzerland/rHJ2vy1B/"]Switzerland[/a] took ‌the lead in the 10th minute when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/embolo-breel/CpKkPKuP/"]Breel Embolo[/a] ‌scored following a quick counter-attack, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ndoye-dan/EmmpFCXN/"]Dan Ndoye[/a] added a second ‌immediately after the break.[/p][p][b]"I can't necessarily say it's down ‌to the defence or the defensive unit as a whole, but certainly, in terms of the way we defended as a team, ‌we have been made to pay very ⁠heavily for that," [/b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/petkovic-nikola/8WHyJFeb/"]Petkovic[/a] told ‌reporters.[/p][p]"Every time we've made our first mistake, we've conceded a goal ... the ​opposition had three chances and they scored two of those. We had more opportunities than they did, ​but unfortunately that's the way it is."[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="386a3dbb-df71-4d6c-81d5-0647ddd32c23" credit-line="StatsPerform via Opta" guid="00a3c5a8-2873-48a2-b8a5-7abd316a0971" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The 62-year-old, who has had a long association with Swiss football and spent ⁠seven years in charge ​of the national team, said the step up at the World Cup was a big one for his side.[/p][p][b]"We defended very well and we didn't concede a lot of goals ‌heading into the World Cup, but here at the tournament, the level has been very high and so we needed to be a little bit neater and tidier and adapt a bit more to this level,"[/b] he said.[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /][p]Petkovic said he was happy with how his side had performed overall, and that they had simply lost to the better team.[/p][p][b]"It was already a big success to be back at ‌a competition like this after 12 years away. And making ​it through the group stage for only the second ‌time in our history, I think that's also an excellent result,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]"Of course, we wanted to achieve a little bit more, but we weren't able to do so.[/p][p][b]"We need to learn from our shortcomings that we ⁠displayed but we've also ⁠had a whole host ‌of positive moments in the matches."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/algeria-nc87N1BR/switzerland-rHJ2vy1B/?mid=rgxknWwh"][b]Check out the match stats here[/b].[/a][/p]