Al Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez described his side’s win over Al Wakrah in the Amir Cup quarter-finals as a deserved result.
Speaking at the press conference after the match that finished 2-2 in regulation time before Sadd won 4-1 on penalties, Xavi said: “The victory is deserved, despite the penalty shootout. We played wonderfully for 70 minutes, but then we made mistakes and Al Wakrah managed to score.”
He added: “We have to improve the performance if we want to win the Amir Cup. We lost focus and paid the price, but we managed to win the penalty shootout and qualify for the semi-finals.”
Regarding the performance of the team after the second goal was scored, the coach said: “It was possible to clinch the match in the normal time. It is important to learn from the mistakes and not to repeat them. I am happy to win and qualify, and if we played as in the first 70 minutes, we would have settled the game in the normal time.”
As for the team he prefers to face in the semi-finals, Xavi said: “We have reached the semi-finals, and we are ready for the winner in tomorrow’s match. I think Al Duhail have the greater chances to qualify for the semi-finals.”
And about the absence of some of his players from the match, the Al Sadd coach said: “Baghdad Bounedjah was absent from the beginning of the match due to a slight injury and only played the last 10 minutes. We played with (Meshaal) Barsham in goal, and he is a good goalkeeper. He succeeded in stopping one of the penalty kicks and helped us a lot in qualifying for the semi-final.”
Al Sadd goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham was understandably delighted after stepping closer to the title.
Speaking after the game, he said: “We played a big match against a tough Al Wakrah side. We managed to score two goals, but Al Wakrah did not surrender and worked to exploit our mistakes and succeeded in coming back, scoring two goals to take the match to a shootout.”
He added: “The Amir Cup championship is of great importance to us and we will strive to qualify for the final.”
Xavi Hernandez
