Portuguese Rui Vitoria, the UAE coach of Al-Wasl, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance despite the loss to Al-Qadisiyah, pointing out that the lack of offensive effectiveness and the mistakes that occurred in the second half gave the Saudi team the opportunity to resolve the confrontation.
Al-Wasl of the Emirates lost its first match in the AFC Champions League for the Elite against its host, Al-Qadisiyah, with a score of 2-1 in the match that brought them together at the Prince Muhammad bin Fahd City Stadium in Dammam.
Vitoria said in the press conference after the match: “We played a good, equal match in the first half, and we were organised, but we were not effective offensively. In the second half, Al-Qadisiyah took advantage of our mistakes and scored two goals. After that, our performance improved and we succeeded in scoring a late goal, but we did not have enough time to equalize.
He added: “I am satisfied with the team’s performance, but I am certainly not satisfied with the result.”
In response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s question about Al-Wasl receiving two consecutive goals in the second half and whether that was due to a decline in concentration, Vitoria said: “Al-Qadisiyah was very organized, and tried to take advantage of the opportunities it got and succeeded in doing so. We could have been more focused and not allowed to concede two goals in a row. Unfortunately, our awakening came late in the match and we settled for scoring one goal.”
Irishman Brendan Rodgers, coach of Al-Qadisiyah, stressed the importance of the victory at the beginning of his team’s journey in the AFC Champions League for the elite, noting that the pressure of the matches and the climatic conditions forced him to rotate the players, at a time when he stressed the need for his team to rest during the upcoming break.
Rodgers said in the press conference after the match against Al-Wasl, UAE: “We started the right way, and achieved victory in our Asian start. We played three matches during a short period of time and in high temperatures and humidity, and after all these conditions and the pressure of the matches, it was important that we come out with a victory today at the beginning of our continental journey, and then we can rest and review everything that happened.”
He added: “We are satisfied with what we presented in the league and the AFC Champions League, and as we get rest and the atmosphere improves, we will appear better.”
The Al-Qadisiyah coach explained that he resorted to rotating some of his members against Al-Wasl, and said: “We tried to make a relative rotation and use about five local players, and it was important to rest some of the players. We achieved the most important thing, which is victory, and this is an excellent step in our first Asian appearance.”
In response to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat’s question about his plan for the downtime after Al-Qadisiyah played nine matches in one month, Rodgers said: “There will be an important rest period for us, and some will leave to get rest during the downtime, and after that we can increase the pace of preparation. After all this pressure, everyone must get adequate rest. Players are not machines, and they need rest, and rotation was important to deal with the pressure of matches.”
Rodgers confirmed that he will continue to rely on rotation to protect his players from stress, adding: “I will perform the necessary rotation, as we have players who have gone through great physical pressure. For example, Julian Quiñones participated until the advanced stages of the World Cup, then he joined us after about three weeks and participated in all the matches, and today he came out due to fatigue and an injury appeared on him.
For his part, Mexican Julian Quiñones, Al-Qadisiyah player and winner of the match’s star award, said: We achieved an important victory in our first Asian appearance, adding: This was important because we worked for that “AFC Champions League for the elite.” The Mexican striker added: Today we sought to win and achieved it, and we went through difficulties and pressure, as the coach spoke, but most importantly, we achieved what we wanted.
Al-Qadisiyah Saudi Arabia began its campaign in the league stage of the AFC Champions League for Elite Football, by defeating its guest Al-Wasl 2-1, on Monday, in the first round of the Al-Gharb Group.
The Saudi team took the lead in the 57th minute through Julián Quinones, then his teammate Matteo Retegui added the second goal in the 61st minute.
Al-Wasl scored its only goal in the match in the seventh minute of stoppage time in the second half through Leonardo Spadacio.
In the next round, Al-Qadisiyah will meet with Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan on October 12, while Al-Wasl will play with Al-Ahly of Saudi Arabia on the same day.
