Ferreira: Disappointed with the loss; we were the better side in the first half

Speaking to the media after the 1-2 defeat to Al-Rayyan, Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira expressed his disappointment with the way things turned out.

“There were two different halves. I am happy with what we showed in the first half. We were better than Al-Rayyan and we controlled proceedings fully, having scored an early goal. Unfortunately, we did not perform similarly in the second half. There were some refereeing errors and some of our young players displayed their lack of experience, all of which contributed to the loss.”

“I am happy with the players and their effort but I am sad for losing three important points in the campaign and missing out on first place,” said the coach.

As for not making the third substitution, Ferreira said: “I did not make the third change because I did not want it. Substitutions don’t clinch the result of the game. If I had made a change then, I would have made the biggest error of my life, especially as the team was close to getting the equalizer.”