Mixed feelings for Sadd supremo Fossati

AFC – DOHA, Al Sadd coach Jorge Fossati had mixed emotions after seeing his side come from 2-0 down to draw with Esteghlal and book their place in the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League.

Fossati was unhappy to see his players concede two goals in the first half, with visiting skipper Farhad Majidi scoring both.

However, Al Sadd turned it around in the second period with Khalfan Ibrahim and substitute Hasan Haydos both on target to ensure their progress into the second stage regardless of the result between Al Nassr and Pakhtakor on Wednesday.

Fossati said: “First I congratulate my team on a good match. I saw the game in the first-half and it is true there were many mistakes.

“We train for certain things and I didn’t see that in the first half. I think we didn’t have full concentration in the first-half.

“The big difference was that they had two chances and they scored. We had five or six chances and we didn’t score.

“But in the second half we played faster than the first half. We attacked from the word go. We changed the game. Now, we can create history.

“We can qualify. Now we have to wait for the result from the game between Al Nassr and Pakhtakor. We will not be happy if we don’t qualify as the top team.”

Esteghlal coach Parviz Mazloumi felt his side should have had a penalty but in any case will be a keen observer of the game in Riyadh given it will impact his side’s chances of reaching the knockout phase.

The Iranians are on five points, level with Al Nasr and one ahead of Pakhtakor. Al Sadd, meanwhile, move onto nine.

“It was a very tough match,” said Mazloumi.

“It was a great match to watch. I think Al Sadd played well. The match had two parts. In the first half, we scored two goals and we had many opportunities to score.

“I think the referee missed a penalty kick for us and he ignored it. I think we lost a bit of concentration after that. We allowed space and opportunity to Al Sadd.

“We have had a busy schedule. We had a tough match four days ago in another city in our country. Because of this, the players were a bit tired. That affected our performance.

“We are sure we will win our next match. We will try to move on in this group. There are important players in the team who are injured or not 100% fit.

“We had to be careful with our substitutions. Some of the players could not train well before this game. The doctors have been looking after them. Amirhossein Sadeghi and Farhad Majidi were not fit but we played them.”