Al Ahli deserve their place in quarters, says veteran Abdulghani

Veteran defender Hussein Abdulghani said Al Ahli Saudi FC deserved to advance to the 2020 AFC Champions League quarter-finals after defeating UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli on penalties in the Round of 16 on Saturday.
The Saudi Pro League side drew level through an Omar al-Soma spot-kick in the 54th minute after having going behind to Azizjon Ganiev effort in the 28th minute and despite both teams having further chances, the tie ended 1-1 after 120 minutes on Saturday.
Al Ahli, however, won the penalty shootout 4-3 after Abdullah Al Naqbi skied Shabab Al Ahli’s final spot-kick at the Al Janoub Stadium.
“It was a difficult match for us as Shabab Al Ahli Dubai played well,” said Abdulghani. “The match was very hard and both teams deserved to win.
“Matches at this stage are very hard and this is what happened today as we only won by a penalty shootout,” he said. “Any team that plays in the AFC Champions League must be ready for tough tests.”
The 43-year-old defender said Al Ahli have no preference about their quarter-final opponents as it will be another tough match irrespective of the opposition.
“All the teams in the knockout stage are big teams and they have reached this stage after hard work. The next stage will be very hard and there will be no easy matches,” said the evergreen Abdulghani, who scored the first of Al Ahli’s successful spot-kicks.
Abdulghani, who came on as a substitute in the 68th minute for his 40th AFC Champions League match in his seventh appearance in the competition, said retirement is not on his mind as he still has much to offer.
“I don’t like making big plans for the future,” said Abdulghani. “In football there is no courtesy and as long as a player can contribute, he will be able to play.”
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai forward Ahmed Khalil applauded his teammates for their courageous display but lamented the UAE Pro League’s side lack of luck.
“Everyone knows that you need luck in penalty shootouts,” stated Khalil, who saw his spot-kick hit the crossbar. “The players gave their best today and they put a lot of effort but we were not lucky in the penalty shootout.
“Playing in the competition was very difficult for us, especially as we had not played competitively for a long time. We will learn from our experiences and improve for next year’s challenge.”