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 on Monday.
CHANGZHOU: Mercurial striker Almoez Ali has praised his team for a commendable performance in an important clash against hosts China on Monday, saying reaching the quarter-finals was ‘the real joy’.
The tall striker scored a brace on Monday as Qatar stunned China 2-1 to reach the last-eight stage of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
“It was a strong contest from both sides. There were outstanding performances from our players but reaching the quarter-finals is the real joy,” Ali told reporters at the end of the tough clash at Changzhou Sports Centre.
“The main reason for our performance is that we stuck to our plans,” he added.
“Group A was one of the toughest. We managed to beat all our opponents including Uzbekistan, Oman and then China. All these wins have given us confidence because these three sides were major hurdles in our path to the quarter-finals,” he added.
“Now we are confident that we can take on any team. Personally speaking I am very happy because I was the reason for our winning goal, but I was delighted to have the two goals, which came thanks to my team-mates,” he said.
“This result (against China) was possible because of the commitment from my team-mates. The hard work done by the backroom staff is also commendable. We treat our next match-up as the final,” Ali said.
“Our ambition is to win the title and we hope to win the next match and advance in the tournament. Regardless of who we play, we will continue to work hard and try to do our best,” Ali said.
Qatar defender Sultan Al Brake said: “We are very happy to have qualified for the quarter-finals. This was possible because of our strong performance against China. It was one of the stronger sides in the tournament.”
Al Brake added: “Our players were ready for this fight. Clearly our physical fitness is helping us in this tournament but the determination and spirit of the players is great. That’s probably our secret for success in China.”
The Qatari player said China proved to be tough opponents.
“The game was very difficult in the beginning, especially as we faced a strong side who has scored first. Their team was well supported by a huge number of fans. We were able to break them when we scored the first goal,” Al Brake recalled.
“Thank God we managed to come back and score our goals due to brilliant finishing by Almoez Ali,” he said. “I think our team can continue to make strong challenges in future also. We are playing at a top level,” he said.
“We play every game with great concentration and we strive to get the best results. I am sure we will continue to exhibit great fighting spirit on the pitch,” he added.
