Felix Sanchez was a delighted head coach after his Al Sadd SC side showed their true colours to come from behind to defeat Al Wasl FC 3-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate to take their place in Monday’s AFC Champions League Elite quarter-final draw.
Apart from the opening 10 minutes when they were put under tremendous pressure by the UAE side, Akram Afif-led Al Sadd produced a dominant performance with Sanchez now eyeing an extended run in the competition. “We achieved an important victory and qualified for the quarter-finals which we deserved,” said Sanchez.
“We played an excellent match against Al Wasl, a big club. It is good to qualify for this stage, and we are moving in the tournament step by step until we reach the furthest point we can reach. We thank the fans for their support and we promise them to continue to give our best, we are now among the best eight teams in Asia and we will strive to give more.”
Afif showed why he’s regarded one of Asia’s finest talents after the 28-year-old kickstarted Al Sadd’s revival after they had fallen behind to Fabio de Lima’s strike by setting up Moustafa Mashal for the equaliser.
Jung Seung-hyun’s unlucky own goal then put Al Sadd in front before Afif crowned an outstanding performance with a spectacular long range curler into the top corner with the attacking midfielder pleased to see the fighting spirit in the team.
“We succeeded in achieving our goal of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the continental championship after a period of absence from this stage,” said Afif.
“We played a strong match, Al Wasl are a strong team, and started the match well and scored an early goal, but we did not give up and we responded by scoring a wonderful three goals.”
Disappointment was etched on the face of Al Wasl head coach Milos Milojevic, who rued how his side were not able to extend their dominance beyond the first 15 minutes as they exited the competition having reached the knockout stage for the first time.
“We played the first 15 minutes brilliantly, then it was a setback. This is football, if you are not focused you lose. We made small mistakes but they were very costly,” said Milojevic. “The game after that became open and it was a style that suited Al Sadd and they scored three goals. We made small mistakes that had a big impact on the team and we lost as a result.”