Sousa: Our qualification is the culmination of our work

Bahrain coach Hélio Sousa congratulated his team on their heroic performance against Iraq in the 24th Gulf Cup semi-finals which made them qualified for the final.

“We have played a great game and our players have shown a high quality performance, which is the culmination of the good work that we have done with the team in the last short period. We hope to be stronger in the future. We have 23 players and we will work harder to reach full readiness for the final,” Sousa said.

“Our players love football and are keen to appear at a remarkable level to have a place in the national team. This is what they have done in this tournament so far. There is good preparation. We have faced challenges for the presence of new players in the national team, but we worked on devoting the philosophy of ideas and pass it on to all players from the beginning.”

Sousa explained on his preparation plan: “I am preparing 28 players. I work on them to be ready to represent the team at any time. We believe in the group and trust the players. We are allowed to participate 23 players in this tournament, and we showed well with the different formations that we played. This tournament has helped us to develop the team with a level against big teams.”

“I would rather be late and come back instead of the opposite” he said. “Our players have shown that they can concentrate and come back. We may be the weakest of the four in the semi-finals, but we were able to be the best and reached the final.”

He concluded: “I do not care which team qualifies from the match between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. I hope that the best will arrive until we play a match with the best – the Asian champions Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Most of their players are from the Asian champions Al Hilal and has the best league in the region, so we have to think well, get ready and reach the level required.”