Al Sadd players celebrate after defeating Al Ahli Tripoli on Wednesday.
Doha, Qatar: Al Sadd coach Bruno Miguel hailed his team's 1-0 win over Al Ahli Tripoli in the King Salman Club Cup Group B match which earned them a place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The Portuguese coach told Al Sadd's official website that the players showed exceptional skills and rated the victory as fantastic.
“The result is more than fair. We achieved a fantastic result, played with exceptional performance, and created several opportunities to secure the three points,” Miguel said.
The winning goal was scored by Brazilian Paulo Otavio, who joined the ranks of Al Sadd few weeks ago.
The victory secured Al Sadd the top spot in Group B with 7 points, following two wins against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal and a draw against Morocco’s Wydad.
“We have been delivering good performances since the start of the tournament and improving from one match to another. We have won two matches and drawn one, and today we came out with a clean sheet. All of this indicates the team’s progress,” Miguel said.
The Al Sadd coach pointed out that their goal is always to achieve victory, stating, “Our goal is always to win every match, and now we have deservedly topped the group. This is what we have been working on during the preparation for this championship.”
Meanwhile, Al Sadd's Qatar international Mohammed Waad said the team achieved it's initial target of advancing to the knockout round.
“We delivered a strong performance against a well-organised and challenging team, and ultimately, we achieved our goal of securing victory and advancing to the second round,” Waad said.
He added, “The next match will be tough, but we are taking the tournament step by step, aiming to sustain our winning streak and continue competing and progressing in the championship.”
His teammate, defender Boualem Khoukhi also expressed his joy.
“We faced a strong team that played with organisation and displayed good defensive performance, preventing us from scoring goals in the first half. However, our desire to win motivated us to continue pressing for a goal, and we succeeded in doing so before the end of the match, securing three crucial points that confirmed our progress to the next round,” the Qatar international said.
He added, “We are delighted with the qualification, but we need to prepare for the next match because it will be more challenging. We hope to continue our victories and advance further in the tournament.”
The Qatari team will next meet Al Shorta tomorrow in the quarter-final.
The Iraqi side finished second in Group A following a 1-2 loss in the hands of Ittihad Jeddah in their last group match on Wednesday.
