Swiss forward Breel Embolo credits Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic with raising up Switzerland's national team during his seven years at the helm.
Embolo and the Swiss will play against Algeria and their former coach on Thursday in Vancouver, British Columbia, when the two teams meet in the round of 32 at the World Cup.
Petkovic coached Switzerland from July 2014 to 2021. He led the team to the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, then took Switzerland to the quarterfinals of the European Championships for the first time in 2020.
“The world of football has become universal. Everyone knows each other. There are no real secrets left in the game,” Petkovic said. “I don’t think it’s a huge advantage to know someone or someone else, just as I know the players, the players know me, and it’s a huge pleasure to come up against them. It’ll 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 a match we need to give 120% against a very decent Swiss inside.”
For 85 minutes, Senegal had the run of play. The African team held a two-goal lead, and had all but secured a spot in the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Within 5 minutes, it crumbled.
“We were at the heart of writing the beautiful pages of the history of our football in this world,” defender Krépin Diatta said. “And, we have to accept that we failed at our mission.”
Late goals by Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans tied the score in the final minutes of regulation time, and Tielemans completed Belgium’s 3-2 comeback win by converting a penalty just before the end of extra time.