I Hoped to Defeat Al Sadd, Foolad Coach Skokic Says

Tasnim – DOHA, Foolad Khouzestan head coach Dragan Skokic said they wanted to beat Al Sadd to keep their chances of advancing to the Round of 16 alive.

The Iranian team lost to Al Sadd 1-0 in Group C of the AFC Champions League on Tuesday.

“I was hoping to avoid defeat and win the match in order to maintain our chances to remain in the competition, but our opponent played with great determination and denied us from scoring on several occasions,” the Croatian told the-afc.

“The match was hard for the two sides and we tried our best in the second period to score but the players were not lucky as they couldn’t convert the chances that they created.”

“But the competition was good for us and I hope the players will have gained a lot of experience for the future,” Skocic added.

Al Sadd of Qatar head coach Lhoussaine Ammouta said that they successfully defended their lead against Iran’s Foolad.

“We achieved our target by winning the match and securing our place in the knockout stage with one match to play,” said Lhoussaine Ammouta in the post match news conference.

“The match was not easy because we played a strong team and we are glad that we won despite missing some of our key players.”

“I always remind the players not to lose concentration and avoid easy mistakes that would allow our opponents to score. We successfully defended our lead and achieved our target by getting the three points.”

Al Sadd and Al Hilal advanced to the Round of 16 from Group C with 10 points, while Foolad remains rooted to the bottom of the standings with three points. Lokomotiv is in third place on four.