The President of the Kuwait Football Association supports Coach Sousa and confirms the team’s readiness for the 2027 Asian Cup

The President of the Kuwait Football Association, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Yousef, confirmed that his country’s national team came to Jeddah to compete for the Gulf Cup title, “Gulf 27,” stressing his support for Portuguese coach Helio Sousa.

The Kuwaiti team began its tournament campaign with a loss to Saudi Arabia 0-1, but Al-Yousef confirmed that the “Blue” team will fight to achieve victory over Iraq in the second round of the first group competitions.

He said: “I am very happy with the level shown by the national team against Saudi Arabia. We succeeded in preparing the players to face the host team returning from the World Cup, which has great potential.”

He added: “Al-Azraq gave a distinguished and manly performance, and was close to scoring on more than one occasion, even though the squad chosen by coach Helio Souza, which included a number of young players, was shocking and unexpected to many.”

Al-Youssef explained that facing Iraq will be different, stressing that the players realize the importance of the match and the size of the responsibility placed on their shoulders. He said: “It is easy to prepare the players for such matches. They know the importance of confrontation, and they realize that we need to fight until the final whistle in order to achieve our goal.”

Regarding Sousa’s choices, the President of the Kuwaiti Federation stressed his non-interference in technical matters, saying: “I do not interfere in Sousa’s choices, and I am the same as the players and fans in knowing the lineup of matches. The coach is the one who makes the technical decision, and we support his work.”

Al-Yousef considered that the team will be “fully prepared for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia,” noting that the low age of players enhances the future of Kuwaiti football, and that current work aims to build a team capable of serving Kuwaiti football for many years.

He concluded: “We do not want to be satisfied with performance, but rather we want to translate it into results, and the beginning will be with Iraq.”

Abdullah Al-Khalasi, the Bahraini national team player, confirmed that the physical factor affected his team’s performance during the confrontation with Qatar, which ended with “Al-Ahmar” losing by two unanswered goals, in the first round of the Arabian Gulf Cup competitions, “Gulf 27,” stressing that the national team will work to compensate in its next match against the Emirates.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat after the match, Al-Khalasi said: “In the end, success comes from the Lord of the Worlds, and we were not successful in the match despite having a number of opportunities, but, God willing, we will come back stronger and as quickly as possible.”

Regarding the decline in the performance of the Bahraini team in the second half, and the extent of the impact of the physical aspect on the level of the players, he explained: “Certainly, the physical factor affected the level, but Bahrain will return as soon as possible, and our focus now is on the next match against the Emirati team, and, God willing, we will make the Bahraini people happy.”

For his part, Omar Salem, the Bahraini national team player, attributed his country’s loss to Qatar by two unanswered goals, in the first round of the Arabian Gulf Cup competitions, “Gulf 27”, to the impact of the physical factor and the high temperatures and humidity, indicating that the Bahraini national team is looking forward to compensation in the next confrontation.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat after the match, Salem said: “We performed well in the first half, but the physical factor affected us in the second half, and I think it affected both teams because of the high temperatures and high humidity.”

He added: “The pitch was a bit heavy, and it affected the movement of the ball, which increased the physical load on both teams, but that does not prevent us from striving to achieve victory and maintain the title, as it is dear to all of us and to Bahrain in general.”

Salem concluded his speech by saying: “This match had its own circumstances, and God willing, we will make up for it in the next match.”

Akram Afif, the Qatari national team player, confirmed that his team is looking forward to continuing its positive results in the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”, after its victory over Bahrain with two unanswered goals in the first round of the group stage competitions, indicating that the upcoming matches will be more difficult.

Afif said, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, after the match: “Praise be to God, we are trying to provide what is required of us, and we congratulate our fans for this victory. Everyone knows that the first match will be difficult, and the following matches will be more difficult, and we ask God for success.”

Regarding the criticism that affected the pitch, Afif said: “I cannot talk about the pitch, because I am a player, and the pitch today was on everyone, whether the main players, substitutes or goalkeepers.”

He added: “Every person may have his own opinion, and I respect all opinions, but for me, as long as the ground is the same for everyone, this is the reality, and we cannot change anything.”

Regarding the Qatari team’s ambitions to achieve the Gulf Championship title, Afif said: “God willing, we are trying, and may God make things easier for us.”

For his part, Tariq Salman, the Qatari national team player, confirmed that the experiences of the “Al Annabi” players and the harmony they have enjoyed for years give the team the motivation to go far in the Arabian Gulf Cup tournament “Gulf 27,” noting that the national team succeeded in dealing with the circumstances of its confrontation with Bahrain, despite the numerical deficiency, and came out with the three points.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat after the victory over Bahrain with two unanswered goals, Salman said: “Thank God for the victory. It was a difficult match, but we knew how to snatch victory through small details. We scored a goal at the beginning of the second half, and another at the end of the match despite the expulsion, and most importantly, we succeeded in coming out with the three points.”

He added: “This is a short tournament, and we need to always be ready in every match, and thank God we achieved the most important thing in today’s confrontation.”

Regarding the harmony enjoyed by the Qatari national team players, and the extent of the influence of the experiences the team gained during its previous participations in achieving the Gulf title, Salman said: “We are a group and a generation that has been playing together for a long time, and we succeeded in achieving the Asian Cup in 2019 and 2023, and we continued the journey together. We hope that these experiences will be an additional point for us, and will give us motivation to continue and reach the furthest point in the tournament.”

Regarding the pitch, Salman explained: “The pitch is good, and we previously played on it with Al-Sadd Club in the AFC Elite Champions League, and everything was good.”

While Abdulaziz Hatem, the Qatari national team player, confirmed that his team succeeded in dealing with the numerical deficiency during its confrontation against Bahrain, which ended with “Al Annabi” winning with two unanswered goals, in the first round of the Arabian Gulf Cup competitions, “Gulf 27,” indicating that the national team was able to translate the opportunities it had in the first half into goals.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat after the match, Hatem said: “I think we performed at an excellent level. In the end, expulsion is part of football, and thank God we were able to deal with it in an appropriate manner, and we achieved what is most important by getting the three points.”

He added: “We performed excellently, but we could have exploited the opportunities we had in the first half and translated them into goals, and thank God we achieved the victory in the end.”

Regarding the coach’s instructions after the expulsion, Hatem explained: “His instructions were clear, to close the spaces, maintain the closeness of the lines, and try to move forward and exploit counterattacks and spaces, in addition to keeping the ball whenever we have the opportunity.”

Regarding the field, he said: “The ground is rather good, and I think it needs to cut the grass a little, but in general it is excellent.”