Casas: I dedicate the win to the souls of those who died in today’s accident and now I can talk about the title
After the end of the match between Iraq and Qatar in the semi-finals of the twenty-fifth Arabian Gulf Cup, which was hosted by the Basra International Stadium and ended with Iraq winning 2/1, and qualifying for the final meeting, a press conference was held for Casas, the coach of the Iraqi national team, who commented:
Before anything else, I dedicate the victory to the souls of the dead for today’s accident. The match is very difficult and this was known from the start. Qatar has done well for years and this team or half of it was in the World Cup and they could possess the ball, but we worked on possession. I think today’s victory is deserved and fair.
He added: We are open to all players, whether inside or outside Iraq, and age does not concern me if the player is old or young.
And he continued: It is a stage that we will be able to play short and we played in some matches in this way, but in some matches, and therefore we tried to play directly through Ayman Hussein. I said earlier that there are some difficult moments and Qatar have been playing together for a long time. Our goal was to close the depth area and prevent them from passing through.
Casas emphasized: Happy with the team and the defensive work, everyone worked, not just the defenders, and in the end we were able to manage the game defensively, and in football it is impossible not to make a mistake. We talked with the players not to make naive mistakes, and the opponent took advantage of the mistake and scored.
He concluded: At this moment we can think about the title, and I said earlier that we think about every match and focus on it. Now I can say that we are determined to achieve the title. If there is someone who wishes to win the title, they are the players.