SEOUL, Korea: Coach Fahad Thani yesterday termed Qatar’s narrow 2-1 loss to Korea as a ‘determined effort’, saying he was proud of his players.
Korea scored the winner in the dying seconds of the match played at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
“We played a great game. It was a spirited effort,” Fahad said.
“We had to defend really well and personally, I am very proud of my players,” he added.
“We had been preparing for this game for a long time,” he said at a press conference.
“The players were committed. They were up against a much superior side which is very professional in their approach,” he added.
“Sometimes football remains unfair,” Fahad said in reference to the goal scored at the end by Korea.
When asked about the decisions of the referee, he said: “The referee was unfair in his decisions, especially in the calculation of the mistakes of the Korean team.”
He added: “He had added five minutes of extra time and yet we kept on playing for some seven extra minutes. That helped the Korean side more as they scored.”
Fahad said not all was lost for Qatar.“We still have chance to qualify. We have two matches and two wins can make a lot of difference in the end,” Fahad said.
“God willing, we will win,” he added. “We must deal with situations realistically,” he said.
“In order to achieve greater success, we have to build a strong team in the future,” he said.
“We promise our fans that we will fight in the last two matches,” he said.
Qatar play their next two matches in June this year against Iran and Uzbekistan.
The Peninsula
