Qatari national team players praise the performance and stress the difficulty of the upcoming matches in Gulf 27

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.”