Thamer Enad: The tournament started off the field
Kuwait coach Thamer Enad said Gulf championships have not abandoned their traditions and were always pressured by the momentum that accompanies them.
Thamer congratulated, at the beginning of his talk, the Saudi Club Al Hilal for winning the Asian Champions League where he described this victory as a pride for the Gulf and all Arabs.
“We started the preparations in a foreign camp and then played the West Asian Championship and then played several games in the Asian double qualifiers. We are ready for the Gulf Cup which has no specific standards and we expect it to be difficult for everyone, as usual.”
On the first Gulf championship as coach of the Blue, he commented: “I am in front of a great responsibility and contemporary Gulf tournaments as a player, assistant coach and a coach and I know a lot about it is hidden. It is very difficult off the pitch because of the privacy that no one is unaware of, and this is a wonderful feeling to contend the tournament this time as a coach for the Kuwaiti team.”
He continued: “Gulf championship started before the whistle of referees and this is the nature of the momentum that accompanies them as you can see now in the press conference – a championship that makes everyone lives under great pressure.”
As he put it: “Everyone knows the conditions of the Kuwaiti team because of the suspension for four years and the problems of Kuwaiti sports in all sectors, and these conditions are clear and I say that Kuwait is far from the competition now but inevitably will return as it was in the past.”
Concerning the timing of the tournament: “The timing of the tournament may not be appropriate as it came immediately after the Asian qualifiers, and I needed time to choose the players and analyze their performance at least after two months, but that remains my personal opinion.”