Qatari striker Almoez Ali carries the ball as he celebrates with team-mates Ahmad Moein (centre) and Hashim Ali (right) after scoring his first goal against China during their AFC U-23 Asian Cup match played in Changzhou, China yesterday.
CHANGZHOU: Coach Felix Sanchez yesterday applauded the performance of his players, saying they showed ‘great personality’ in fighting for a 2-1 win over hosts China.
Qatar conceded an early goal in yesterday’s Group A clash but feared striker Almoez Ali (44 and 77) produced two amazing goals in each half to guide Al Anabi to the quarter-finals of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
Coach Sanchez was a thrilled man after yesterday’s thrilling clash.
“We conceded the goal because we were too soft, but what happened afterwards was that the players showed great personality,” Sanchez told reporters.
“It is a good achievement to reach the top eight in Asia. All the teams in our group were of a very high level,” the Spaniard added.
“The game changed after the red card (against Chinese captain) as China started to play in a more direct way. But we scored the second goal which was exactly what we were looking for.
“We are very happy and very proud. We do not have any preference who we play in our next game,” he said.
China coach Massimiliano Maddaloni said yesterday: “From the beginning of this match until the 35th minute we played very well, and the players put on a very good performance.”
He added: “We had a chance to make it 2-0 which would have been a very good start. Qatar are a very strong team and I am sorry that we did not make it.”
Maddaloni explained: “During half-time I tried to encourage all of my players because we were down to 10 men and said that we still had a chance. I think that during the second half we played as a team.”
Earlier, in another Group A clash Uzbekistan beat Oman 1-0 to seal their quarter-finals berth.
Uzbekistan coach Ravshan Khaydarov said yesterday: “It was a very difficult and tough game, although my players didn’t show beautiful football, we still got the win. After our first loss, it made things difficult and we tried to improve game by game, and I told the team we had a chance and to keep trying till the very end.”
Oman coach Hamad Al Azani said: “I’m sorry about the result, we’re out of the tournament without any points, but I’m proud of my team. We don’t deserve the losses but this is football. These boys played well and have got a good future. We’ve all gained experience from this tournament, not just for the players but the staff as well.”
The 16-team tournament will end on January 27.
