You win some, you lose some: Oliveira

Abu Dhabi: Despite the exit from AFC Champions League, players of Al Jazira expressed their satisfaction with the performance against Al Ahli on Tuesday night.

"This is football. You win some and lose some," Ricardo Oliveira, Al Jazira's Brazilian striker, said after the match. "I scored twice in the match but failed to convert from the penalty spot. I am sad for the fans and for my colleagues because we played a good match against a strong team and could have finished the matchwinners but bad luck came in the way."

Oliveira is the top scorer of the AFC Champions League this season so far with 12 goals in seven matches. "I do hope that we will do better next season."

Ali Khaseef, the home custodian who saved many dangerous attempts, said: "I am satisfied with the results. We scored three goals against one of the continent's top teams which is not an easy task. We missed some chances to score more and in football, you will have to pay for missed chances. I believe we should keep our heads held high because losing in shootouts is not such a catastrophe."

Meanwhile, the Al Ahli players from Saudi Arabia were overjoyed at the victory. Taisir Al Jasim said: "I want to congratulate both teams for their show. I am happy that we won against Al Jazira who did not lose a single match in the group stage but I am also aware that we committed some mistakes in defence which we should iron before the quarter finals. I believe we can go further in the championship because this victory in particular will give us a big boost to our morale."

Emad Al Housani, who was Al Ahli's super sub (he scored the second goal only minutes after being introduced) said: "Winning the Saudi Champions Cup last week gave us a motivation to win this match because all the players were brimming with high spirits. I believe that we showed better stamina than Al Jazira - whose players slowed down in the second half and extra-time. Their first half performance was really brilliant despite losing some chances."