Sport | Football
Brazilian pair praised over six-goal triumph
Al Jazira coach Abel Braga praised the performance of his two Brazilian strikers saying they had proved their worth.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:32 September 26, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
- I am confident they have more to offer and with time they will be in their top condition, says Abel Braga.
Abu Dhabi: Al Jazira coach Abel Braga praised the performance of his two Brazilian strikers saying they had proved their worth.
The coach praised his side's performance in the 6-1 win but highlighted the forward pair Rafael Sobis and Fernando Baiano.
He said: "The first step that led to our win was our respect of the opponents despite our knowledge that they lost their first match against Al Dhafrah 3-1.
"We played seriously and did not take them for granted.
"They are a good team and organised many good counter attacking moves which put our goal under pressure.
"Rafael (Sobis) and Fernando (Baiano) were instrumental in our big victory and showed their outstanding capabilities.
"I am confident they have more to offer and with time they will be in their top condition.
"I was confident of our victory but frankly I did not expect my team to score so many goals.
"It was strange that in the first half when Al Khaleej played a defensive game, we scored four goals and when they attacked we scored only two goals."
Al Khaleej coach Sameer Al Juwaili said they needed to learn from the defeat.
He said: "Such big and sad defeats are good sometimes to create a stronger team and from such mistakes our players will gain experience.
"The competition is still at the beginning and we have 20 more matches and I do believe that my team have more to show.
"Our biggest problem is that our players are not fully professional and most of them have jobs in other cities."
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