Togo coach Otto Pfister has admitted that off-pitch problems caught up with his players as they crashed out of the World Cup finals with a second successive defeat - 2-0 to Switzerland on Monday.

The Sparrowhawks have been involved in a pay dispute throughout the tournament which prompted Pfister to resign before returning to his post for the 2-1 defeat to South Korea.

The players also threatened not to turn up for the Swiss game before eventually deciding to take to the field.

Pfister said: "My players really gave it 100 per cent. If you're faced with disputes for weeks on end like the ones we've had, then that's bound to affect you deep down.

"When you take the circumstances into account, I think they played really well. In football, you always have to have a winner and a loser and we came out on the wrong end of things.

"We're playing France in Cologne on Friday. There are four or five members of the squad who haven't played at all yet, and it's time for them to get some experience at this level.

"All 23 players in my squad are good enough to be here, and we saw that against Switzerland. I'm going to give my lads the chance to carry on with the learning curve."