(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Rizwan Rehmat | The Peninsula
CHANGZHOU: Coach Felix Sanchez on Monday 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 Monday'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 Sanchezwas a thrilled man after Monday'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 on Monday.
"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 on Monday: "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."
The 16-team tournament will end on January 27.
MENAFN1501201800630000ID1096352523
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.