(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The Peninsula
Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez expressed his dissatisfaction after his side's 1-1 draw with Iranian side Foolad Khouzestan, in their first round clash in Group D of the 2021 AFC Champions League.
Speaking during the post-match press conference, Xavi said on Wednesday: 'I am unhappy with the result we got. Our goal was to win. We played against a difficult and effective team, and we competed strongly.
The Al Sadd coach added: 'We are playing against the best teams in Asia, and today we got a point that may be useful in the future. We must improve in the next match and compete better.
Regarding the impact of Akram Afif's absence from the team, he said: 'Of course we miss Akram, who is the best player in Qatar and Asia, but it will not be an excuse. We played well and got many opportunities, but Foolad defended well. Xavi also had some words on the pitch conditions.
'The ground condition was not good and did not help us play in our usual way. We faced many difficulties because of that, and the AFC should pay attention to that.
Asked about the unavailability of the broadcast of the match for Qatari fans, Xavi said: 'This is something I cannot understand. I cannot imagine that the fans in Qatar could not watch the match, this is not logical.
Al Sadd defender Khoukhi Boualem said his side put up a good performance against Foolad in the AFC Champions League 2021 opening group game, despite dropping two points in the 1-1 draw.
Speaking after the game, Khoukhi said: 'It's better to draw than to lose. We played well and controlled the game against a team that defended strongly. We tried and got many chances but fortune didn't favour us in front of goal. He added: 'Every match has its own circumstances.
Today we played against a team that defends well and it was our first game in the tournament.
We will work on correcting our mistakes in our next game against Al Nassr. He said: 'We will prepare well for facing Al Nassr and of course, it will be tough for both teams. Our goal is to win and get the three points.
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