Nabil Maaloul
Doha: Al Duhail’s coach Nabil Maaloul (pictured) credited the ‘high spirit’ of his players for their narrow 1-0 win home win against Iranian giants Persepolis in the 2018 AFC Champions League quarter-finals first leg on Tuesday.
A first half header from Almoez Ali secured the narrow win for the Qatari giants at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the new Al Duhail coach said: “I am happy with the performance of the team in today’s match against a big team like Persepolis. I thank the players for the high spirit they played with. With the high performance and continuous pressure (that we put on Persepolis), we were able to control the match in most of the times.”
“There is still the second leg left in Tehran and I am optimistic we will return from there with a positive result and reach the semi-finals,” the 56-year old, who coached Tunisia at the recently concluded World Cup in Russia, said.
Maaloul, who replaced Jamal Belmadi prior to the start of new season, said that his team played against a very strong competitor and there were many wrong passes as a result of the continuous pressure from the Iranian players. He also said that the Iranians played with different defence tactics during the first leg.
“We did not find the opportunity to set the balls for the attackers, and this was due to the strong pressure the Iranian team put on us,” the Tunisian tactician said.
Meanwhile, Nam Tae-hee, who was named the player of the match on Tuesday, was positive on the fact that the second leg clash will demand more effort from Al Duhail.
“I am happy with the result we achieved and we have to prepare for the upcoming confrontation which will demand more effort from us,” the ever-reliable South Korean midfielder said.
Tae-hee also said that the strong Iranian midfield deprived him from receiving the ball on many occasions.
However, the 27-year-old star hoped the Qatari club will be able to provide their best in the second leg which will eventually assure them a place in the semi-finals of Asia’s premier football tournament.
“We know that the Iranian team will not appear the same in the away match, and we will try to present the required performance from us and achieve the result that will guarantee to us a place in the semi-finals,” Tae-hee said.
Tuesday’s result also meant that the unbeaten Qatari champions matched Ulsan Hyundai’s record of nine consecutive wins in the AFC Champions League.
“I think that Al Duhail deserve to reach this round as we did not lose or tie in any match in the competition, as we played nine matches,” Tae-hee said. The second leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-final between the two teams will be played on September 17.
