After guiding Qatar to the finals of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, coach Felix Sanchez (pictured below) said his young players picked up valuable lessons at the five-day qualifying event that ended on Sunday.
Qatar on Sunday drew 1-1 against Syria to seal their berth at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup finals after easily beating Turkmenistan and India to win the four-nation event.
“I congratulate my players for qualifying for the AFC U-23 Championship in China. In the first half, we were very comfortable after we scored a goal,” Sanchez said after the match played under lights at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
“In the second half, they did well. I feel very proud with the performance of the team. It’s such a young team and to play this tournament at this age, it was a very good opportunity for them to learn,” he added.
Syrian coach Hussein Afash admitted Qatar held the upper hand in the first half.
“The game was good between the two teams. The Qatar team have quality,” Afash said.
“They dominated the first half but in the second half, we were better. In general the game was good. Our preparation was not great as we had a short preparation but we did well. The result was fair. Our strong point is our physical game and we did well. I am happy because we don’t have injuries in this tournament,” Afash added.
Earlier on Sunday, India crushed Turkmenistan 3-1 to finish third in the qualifying event.
Stephen Constantine, India’s British coach, said: “Finally, we won a game in this tournament. If I evaluate our matches, we were extremely unlucky to lose the first match and again, very unlucky to lose the second.”
He added: “But we did well in this match. We controlled the game, took our chances. Turkmenistan players are very good on the ball but I think in the end, we deserved to win. I’m very happy for the players.”
Turkmenistan coach Agamyradov Ahmet said he played with an inexperienced side.
“Unfortunately, we lost. After the Syria match, the boys understood that we don’t have much of chance to qualify and psychologically we were down. India played with nothing to lose and they played a good game. Congratulations to the Indian team,” Ahmet said.
“I think this was a big experience for our young players. some are 19 years old and some are just 18, and this is a big experience for them. In some years, some of these players will represent the national team and I hope this experience will help them in the future,” the coach added.
