Mahdi Ali called his team's performance on Friday night in their 0-0 Gulf Cup of Natioans opener against Oman "very strong", and complimented both sides for their determination.
“We had more chances than Oman and the players delivered a good performance,” he said in Riyadh yesterday. “The Omani players tried their best to pressure us for the first 10 minutes but our players figured out a way to handle their approach.”
He also expressed his satisfaction with the performance of his most experienced player and squad captain Ismail Matar, who replaced Ali Mabkhout in attack in the second half.
“Ismail played very well on his comeback from injury,” Mahdi Ali said. “We felt he can be our winning card in the second half and we tried to utilise him as such.”
The coach was less impressed with the refereeing, which he said cost his team a penalty. He added that he would leave it up to the officials and fans to make up their minds.
Mahdi Ali also spoke up for star midfielder Omar Abdulrahman. He said the Al Ain playmaker played well despite not being fit as he returned from a month out with injury.
Gulf Cup of Nations results & fixtures (in UAE time)
Thursday
Saudi Arabia 1 Qatar 1
Bahrain 0 Yemen 0
Friday
UAE 0 Oman 0
Iraq 0 Kuwait 1
Sunday
Yemen v Qatar, 6.45pm
Saudi Arabia v Bahrain, 9.15pm
Monday
UAE v Kuwait, 6.45pm
Iraq v Oman, 9.15pm
Wednesday
Saudi Arabia v Yemen, 8.45pm
Bahrain v Qatar, 8.45pm
Thursday
UAE v Iraq, 8.45pm
Kuwait v Oman, 8.45pm
akhaled@thenational.ae
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