Sousa lauds Bahrain’s fighting spirit
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa praised the national team’s fighting spirit in their come-from-behind 2-1 victory against Qatar on Tuesday, which brought them one step closer to securing their berth in the semi-finals of the 25th Arab Gulf Cup in Basra, Iraq.
The Portuguese tactician said that the goal they conceded was just “one bad moment” in an impressive first half.
The nationals then responded in the final 45 minutes, where they scored both their goals through Komail Al Aswad and Abdulla Yusuf to eke out the victory.
“For our players, we told them to keep believing in what we were doing in the first half,” Sousa said in his post-game Press conference.
“We did well, but we had one bad moment—that moment, we were not competent enough and we gave up the goal.
That was only one situation in the first half. “When we came back from half time, we knew what we did well and what we must keep doing, and our players were fantastic!
They did a fantastic job, they delivered all inside of the pitch with great quality, and we came upon the result and got a fantastic win.” Sousa expressed his confidence in all the players on the national team after he was asked about his decision to name a starting 11 that was drastically different from the squad that began their first game against the UAE—a contest they also won 2-1.
“Each game has a different story,” Sousa explained. “We believe in all the players; we count on all of them.
“Playing three games at this intensity and this quality is very hard, even for professional players. We believe in all our players and we give them a chance.
Most of them are well connected to our idea of playing and what they need to do in each moment of the game.
“As I said before, every game we go to, we go to win, but also knowing that we need to develop our players. “Our younger players with no international experience need these games to build for tomorrow.
They are maybe the future of Bahrain. We need to develop players with quality and to keep fighting with everyone, everywhere to win the game.”
Bahrain have one game to play in this stage of the Gulf Cup.
It will be tomorrow against Kuwait. The Bahrainis need only a draw against the Kuwaitis to make it through.
The nationals are now atop the Group B table with six points, followed by Qatar and Kuwait with three points apiece.
The UAE are last with zero markers. All four teams are scheduled to return to the pitch tomorrow for the final match day in this stage.
Bahrain and Kuwait face off at Basra International Stadium while the Qataris take on the UAE at Al Minaa Olympic Stadium.
Both games are scheduled to kick off simultaneously at 6pm.
The matches will determine the final standings in the group and the top two teams move on to the semis, which are set for Monday next week, with the final scheduled for 19 January.
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