Matar happy about matches

Abu Dhabi: Esmail Matar does not regret skipping the Gulf Cup to play in the Fifa Club World Cup, despite the fact his team were hammered out of the tournament 4-1 by Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma of South Korea in the quarter-finals.

Matar told Gulf News, "To play in the World Club Cup is better than the Gulf Cup — Tournaments like this come once in a lifetime, you only have one chance to play in something like this and you don't know if it's going to come around again."

Al Wahda beat off Hekari United in the entry play-off 3-0, lost to Chunma in the quarter-finals and then lost to Pachuca in the fifth place play-off on penalties 4-2, despite being 2-0 up in normal time with eight minutes to spare.

Of his team's performance at the competition, Matar added, "To lose the game with [Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma] was not a big deal; this is football, they are the champions of Asia. What we are upset about is the manner in which we conceded those goals."

He said of the Pachuca loss that it was again the fault of his team who, "lack concentration for the full 90 minutes", which resulted in a late brace from Dario Cvitanich creeping in.

An upbeat Matar said, "You can't succeed every time. The most important thing is that you try your best. Sometimes you are unlucky but you always learn from your mistakes, this is what football is all about."