Al Rayyan head coach Laurent Blanc has hailed his team for coming back stronger after the AFC Champions League failure, saying the players showed excellent performance to beat tough Al Duhail in the semi-final of Amir Cup.
Al Rayyan, who had a dismal season so far by their own standards, edged Al Duhail 2-1 in the second semi-final, defying a barrage of attacks from Sabri Lamouchi-coached ‘Red Knights’ in the second semi-final at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Monday.
‘The Lions’ managed to score an early goal through Dame Traore before captain Yacine Brahimi doubled the lead with a spot kick in the second half. Striker Michael Olunga scored for Al Duhail, nine minutes before time but Al Rayyan denied them the equaliser with a solid defense.
“I am proud of players performance in the tough match,” Blanc said yesterday. “Al Duhail are one of the top sides in Qatar and they played attacking football throughout the match. We defended very well to keep our lead. We were also good in attacks and succeeded in scoring two goals to win the important match. The players deserve praise and I congratulate them for reaching the final,” he added.
The French coach said he was happy to see his team making a huge turnaround after a disappointing performance at the AFC Champions League, where they failed to win a single match.
“The team went through very difficult times and I am happy to see their motivation in the match despite that,” he said. Al Rayyan will meet defending champions Al Sadd side in the Amir Cup final, who crushed Al Arabi 3-0 in the first semi-final.
