Basra – IA
Today, Thursday, national team coach Jesus Casas expressed his satisfaction with the result of the victory over the Philippines in the double qualifiers that were held at Basra International Stadium in the presence of more than 63,000 spectators.
Jesus Casas said in the press conference after the match: “It was a difficult match for us because of the style of the Philippine team, which succeeded and worked well in terms of closing spaces. We missed many opportunities until the last moments, and we could have scored more than one goal, and there was a penalty kick for Ali.” Jassim did not count.
He added: “Our team worked well tactically, but we were not successful in ending the attacks, and today we watched the match against South Korea, which was in control but came out tied, so the most important thing is that you emerge victorious.
Casas repeated, during the press conference: Stability, for me, depends on the performance of the players at each stage to choose the most suitable on our list.
He continued: When you face a defensively compact team over time, you will be psychologically stressed, and in return the opponent will be exhausted, and this exactly happened to us earlier in our experiences, whether with the Spanish national team or Barcelona, as most of the competitors were closing spaces, but they committed mistakes after exhaustion, and we are satisfied. Regarding the team’s performance, the most important thing is to win the match points and lead the group with nine points.
Casas concluded his speech: I thought from the beginning that the match would be difficult because I knew that the opponent came here looking to close spaces, and I am happy and satisfied with all of our players present with us.
For his part, the man of the match (Muhannad Ali) expressed his great happiness, congratulating the Iraqi fans who supported the team against the Philippines.
He said: We missed more than one opportunity, but the most important thing is to win the points in the match, and I repeat my congratulations to our fans who came and were stubborn to support the Mesopotamia Lions, and we promise them to provide the best.
He concluded his statement by saying: I thank all my fellow players for helping me score the winning goal in the Philippines match.