Athab: We did not expect to win

Dubai: Ahmad Athab, the Philippines coach, said that his team came to gain experience from participating in the world cup qualifiers in Dubai.

"We were not expecting to win a match in the qualifiers, because we know our standard compared to the other teams in our group Japan and Iran," said the Iraqi coach after his team's second defeat on Wednesday night.

Defeated

Athab said that he hoped they can reach the 2009 World Cup finals. "We were not prepared in for the qualifiers, we started training just a few days ago. I hope we can prepare well for the coming qualifiers and return to Dubai next year to play in the world cup finals."

The Philippines were defeated 8-2 by Japan in their first match and lost the second 5-2 to Iran. They finished bottom of Group B without any points.

Athab said that its difficult to form football teams in Philippines. "The numbers of footballers are very few and not like other countries. Also there is no talent or gifted players who can make a difference when playing in the national teams." The Philippines coach said he expected the UAE and Japan to reach the World Cup in France and either Iran or China to clinch the third place.