Ferreira: We played well, the club and the players don’t deserve this defeat

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira expressed his disappointment after his side fell to a 4-3 defeat to Al-Duhail in Round 19 of the QNB Stars League.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Ferreira said: “We played for the win and we managed to dominate in the first 20 minutes. Our players then lost focus which led to this defeat.”

The coach pointed out that Al-Sadd “succeeded in overturning the deficit but the game still ended in disappointment for us.”

He added: “My team played well. It was an entertaining game for the fans. Unfortunatley, the red ard affected us. A draw was the fair result for this game; we don’t deserve defeat. The club and the players don’t deserve defeat.”

“However, we need to learn from the defeats and the errors we committed.”

Ferreira also said: “The draw would have been a fair result and the title race would have looked different. But we were undeservedly punished in the final few minutes.”

As for taking off Xavi Hernandez, Ferreira said: “Xavi felt pain in his back muscle and so we substituted him in the second half. Of course, the team suffered with his withdrawal but the players managed to regroup and get the lead before losing it at the end.”

The coach concluded by saying: “Luck was with Al-Duhail during this game. We will now begin focusing on the next AFC Champions League game, after which we will return to the league and look to win all the remaining games.”