Croatian Dragan Talajic, coach of the Bahraini national team, affirmed his confidence in his players’ ability to perform better against the Emirates, pointing out the difficulty of competing in the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”, and that the chances of qualifying are still available to all teams.
Talajic said, in the press conference preceding the confrontation: “I congratulate all the teams that achieved success in the first round. This is a tough tournament, and everyone has a chance to qualify. I trust the players and we will do a good job tomorrow, God willing. The team we will face played a very strong match, and has high-level players.”
He added: “I love the relationship between the Bahraini people and the players, and God willing, tomorrow I will make them proud of their team.”
Regarding facing the UAE national team, Talajic said: “We must be faster throughout the match, and not give them any chance. Zlatko is the best coach in the tournament, and I congratulate the UAE Federation for choosing him, and the UAE team’s position is better than us because it achieved victory in the first match, unlike us.”
The Bahraini coach spoke about his compatriot Zlatko Dalic, the UAE coach, saying: “I am Croatian and proud of what Zlatko did with the Croatian national team, and I wish him success with the Emirati national team.”
For his part, Mahdi Abdul-Jabbar, the Bahraini national team player, confirmed that his team is working to correct mistakes and improve effectiveness in front of goal. He said: “Yesterday’s training was in two groups, and the coach gave us appropriate guidance. We will not make the weather an excuse for us, as we have played in these conditions before, and we are trying to improve our level in front of goal.”
He added: “We trust the coach’s tactics, and all players want to give their best, but there may be a lack of concentration or making wrong decisions, and we will work to improve our decisions in the next match.”
Algerian Noureddine Ould Ali, coach of the Yemeni national team, confirmed that facing Qatar represents an opportunity for his team to restore respect after the result of the last match, noting that the technical staff worked to address the mistakes and appear better in the second round of the Arabian Gulf Cup competitions (Gulf 27).
Ould Ali said, in the press conference preceding the confrontation: “For us, the match will be an opportunity to restore dignity. We made some mistakes in the previous match, and we will work to correct them.”
Regarding the reality of Yemeni football, he explained: “The league is new, and things are starting to improve. As for tomorrow’s match, we will face a World Cup team that has gained great experience from its participation, and we will work to improve our team’s performance and benefit from this confrontation.”
The Yemeni coach touched on the player Adel Abbas, saying: “Adel Abbas is a talent, but we must choose the appropriate conditions for his participation.”
He added: “Our goal is to be stable. Any team needs success factors, some of which are internal and some of which are linked to what surrounds the team, such as the level of the league and the participation of players abroad.”
For his part, Rami Al-Wasmani, the Yemeni national team player, confirmed that his team’s players pledged to present a better image in the next confrontation, after benefiting from the lessons of the last match.
Al-Wasmani said: “We have many lessons learned, and we emerged from the previous match with positive and negative points. We feel sad about the result of the match, but we pledged to perform better in the next match.”
He concluded: “With the determination of the players, God willing, we will appear better.”
Spanish coach Julian Lopetegui, coach of the Qatari national team, stressed the importance of facing Yemen, pointing out that the lack of time between matches does not give his team enough time to rest, and that he will rely on the best elements ready to take part in the confrontation within the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27” competitions.
Lopetegui said, in the pre-match press conference: “We do not have enough time to rest, and tomorrow we will play with the best ready players. “I think the match matters to us, and we will face an opponent who also matters to the match, so we must focus on ourselves.”
The Qatari coach stressed his respect for the Yemeni team, and did not pay attention to its loss in the first round, and said: “The match certainly matters to us, and Yemen has strong players. We do not focus on their loss in the first match, we respect them, and as I said, they are a strong team and we have to give our best.”
For his part, Sultan Al-Breik, the Qatari national team player, confirmed his team’s readiness for the confrontation, indicating that the goal is to continue victories.
Al-Breik said: “We are ready to face tomorrow, and God willing, we will achieve victory.” “There is no easy match, and we are ready for the match.”
He added: “The Yemeni team is looking for its last hope of victory, but our goal is to achieve victory.”
