World NewsFossati Lauds Qatar |
JORGE Fossati was full of praise for his Qatar players as their World Cup dream remained intact following the 1-0 defeat of Iraq.
Seyd Bechir headed in the only goal after 77 minutes as Qatar claimed joint-top spot of Group One to progress to the fourth qualifying round alongside Australia, who lost 1-0 to China.The victory ended Iraq's hopes for qualification as the Asian Cup holders finished third in the standings.
Fossati conceded it was a close encounter, but believes the will of his players was the key to the triumph.
"The game was balanced and both teams played well in both defence and attack," he said.
"We went into the game with an attacking plan as we wanted to win the match and we achieved this by the end of the day.
"Our team was disciplined and we managed to deal very well with the pressure as it was like a final for us.
"We went into the game with only one chance and we successfully took the chance and qualified.
"I want to thank everyone for this achievement and I want to thank the players for their great efforts in this game and the previous matches."
Iraq were magnanimous in defeat, with assistant coach Rahim Hamid wishing Qatar well.
"I want to congratulate Qatar for going through from the group and hopefully they can play well in the next stage," he said
Hamid conceded Iraq had not been good enough in a tight encounter.
"Our team didn't have a good game and they were not up to the expectations," he added.
"The players were under pressure right from the beginning and Qatar made things difficult by playing an attacking game.
"Qatar attacked a lot down the left side and they managed to score the only goal from a chance from the left.
"The game was tactically tense and there were no big chances in the game."
Copyright (c) 2008 Press Association
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