Portuguese Helio Sousa, coach of the Kuwaiti national team, expressed his regret for his team's loss to Iraq, stressing at the same time that he was proud of the level the players performed during the confrontation.
Souza said during the press conference after the match: “I am proud of the players and the high level they performed, and I certainly feel sorry for the loss. We had two chances in the first half, and in the second half we created many chances, and we had a chance to score the third goal, but in the end it was Iraq that succeeded in scoring it.”
The Kuwaiti coach indicated that his team was able to achieve a better result, but he paid the price for some details during the course of the match, explaining: “I made some changes, but I do not prefer a lot of them. We had many opportunities, and we had to be more focused in some moments, as we cannot attack all the time.”
Souza stressed the need to address the small details before the upcoming confrontations, and said: “We must work on the small details until we reach what we aspire to.” We did not achieve the result we wanted, and we have to work more to improve.”
The Kuwaiti national team coach concluded his speech by emphasizing his sadness over the loss, especially in light of the effort made by his players, saying: “I repeat, I feel sorry for the loss, especially in light of what the players presented during the match.”
The Algerian national team announced the absence of French Marseille striker Amine Gouiri from the team's ranks during the rest of the camp held to play the two qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations.
The Algerian national team confirmed in an official statement via its account on “X” that the medical examinations that striker Amine Gouiri underwent on Saturday morning showed a muscle injury at the level of the left thigh, after he left the field injured in the match between Zambia and Algeria.
Gouiri was substituted early in the match, which the Algerian team won 3-1, due to this injury.
The statement continued: “Based on the results of the tests, Gouiri will undergo a period of rest, to ensure his absence from the rest of the camp, and the player will be released on Sunday morning.”
Gouiri is the second player to leave the Algerian roster, after Rayan Ait Nouri, the Manchester City player, who the national team also announced was excluded, without giving reasons. However, the player appeared angry on the Algeria substitute bench, in the match against Zambia, as a result of his seating as a substitute.
The Algerian national team will play its second qualifier match against Burundi next Tuesday.
Iraq snatched a dramatic victory from its Kuwaiti counterpart (3-2), on Saturday, in the second round of Group 1 competitions in “Gulf 27”.
The Iraqi national team raised its score to four points to occupy first place, after tying in the first round against Oman, while the Kuwaiti national team occupies last place in the group without a balance of points, after suffering its second loss in a row, after losing to Saudi Arabia in the first round.
The Iraqi team took the lead through Zidane Iqbal in the 52nd minute, before the Kuwaiti team equalized in the 75th minute through Youssef Nasser. In the 83rd minute, Saif Rashid scored the second goal for the Iraqi team, but Youssef Nasser came back again to score the equalizer for Kuwait in the last minute of regular time in the second half.
But the Iraqi team succeeded in snatching the victory in the ninth minute of stoppage time in the second half through Karar Nabil, achieving three valuable points.
