After watching the Sparrowhawks fall 2-0 to Switzerland here Monday the 68-year-old German said: "I think my players gave 100 percent, but when you have problems of that kind for weeks then it does have an influence, on your nerves as well."

"I would say it's been an extremely difficult time," added Pfister, who had played a role in the disruption to their preparations by walking out on the team on the day of the first match of the finals over the bonuses row only to return for their first match, the 2-1 defeat by 2002 semi-finalists South Korea.

The players had planned a boycott of Monday's game, only calling off the action hours before kick-off when the Togo Football Federation paid them.

"According to the circumstances the team played to their maximum and played a good game," said the oldest coach at the World Cup.

Pfister believed lessons were there to be learnt and he criticised the way the African country's football rulers had conducted themselves at the World Cup.

"There are 45 members of the (Togo) Federation and each one must work for the team. But that's not the impression I had, on the contrary I had to do everything myself.

"If there's a lesson to be learned it's that you should only send people to the World Cup with exact roles and who are prepared to work 24 hours out of 24 for the good of the team.

"You can only succeed at this level by doing that."

He disclosed that he was planning to rest some of the side that turned out against Switzerland to give other members of his squad a taste of life in the World Cup fast lane.

"My aim now is to concentrate on the France game, we'll start work on it immediately.

"We have four or five players who have not played yet so this is an occasion for me to give them an opportunity.

"We're here to learn, I have to give them a chance to have experience. I look after my team and I want them to get that."

As to his future after Friday's encounter with France Pfister said: "Do you know something, in my job you don't know today what tomorrow is made of so I haven't even started thinking about that."

Pfister is in dispute with at least one member of the federation as he is sueing the secretary-general for defamation, after he claimed the German was an alcoholic.