Halliche: Belgium loss has been forgotten

Algeria defender Rafik Halliche is adamant the defeat against Belgium has been forgotten ahead of their meeting with South Korea.

Vahid Halilhodzic’s men led for large periods in their opening FIFA World Cup Group H contest with Belgium on Tuesday thanks to a first-half penalty from Sofiane Feghouli.

However, two Belgium goals in the last 20 minutes turned the game on its head, Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens securing the points for Marc Wilmots’ side.

A reverse on Sunday against South Korea – who played out a 1-1 draw with Russia in their first game – coupled with a Belgium win over Fabio Capello’s side, would eliminate Algeria from the competition.

Halliche is understandably keen to avoid that scenario and insists that Algeria are determined to make up for the disappointment of the Belgium loss.

“The defeat against Belgium is now in the past,” Halliche said.

“We must focus on the decisive game against the Koreans and the need to win, a way to boost our chances of qualifying for the second round.

“Despite the defeat to Belgium, qualification is still doable. We still have two games to turn the situation to our advantage.

“This (South Korea) is a good team, which plays a good game focused towards the attack with good organisation. I hope we can counter on the day.

“After the Belgium game, we promised to rectify the situation against Korea. Nobody begrudged our efforts to combat the Belgians, we now have to forget and look to the future.”