Riyadh: Qatar’s failure to find a win in the group stages of the Gulf Cup was “never a problem,” according to Maroons midfielder Esmail Mohammad.
The Maroons recorded three draws against Saudi Arabia 1-1, Yemen 0-0 and Bahrain 0-0 to finish second in Group A. They then they turned it on in the knockout stages by coming from behind twice to beat Oman 3-1 in the semi-final and Saudi Arabia 2-1 in Wednesday’s final.
Coach Djamel Belmadi was heavily criticised for his team’s earlier display to the extent he stopped attending press conferences. The 24-year-old Al Lekhwiya midfielder Esmail Mohammad, said the team’s earlier results never affected his teammates.
“It was never a problem for Qatar that we didn’t score very much in the group stages,” said Mohammad. “The most important thing was that even when we lost goals, we always came back,” he added of the team which equalised with Saudi Arabia in the group and then came from behind to win against Oman and Saudi in the knockouts.
“This is a big win and I congratulate my Qatari teammates and say hard luck to Saudi. It’s an important cup and we’ve worked hard for six months and god has given us this gift. We say thanks, God.”
Meanwhile, striker Hassan Khaled Al Haidous said the turning point for Qatar’s Gulf Cup winning campaign was the 3-1 semi-final win over Oman.
“From the Oman game we started scoring and that gave us more confidence going into the final to try and score more,” said the Al Sadd frontman.
