Xavi: We suffered before getting this win, Akram’s goal is crucial for our campaign

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez expressed his happiness with his side’s important 2-1 victory over Al-Khor, in the postponed Round 7 game from the QNB Stars League.

Speaking at the press conference after the match, Xavi said: “I am very happy with the victory, especially as we suffered before getting it. We deserve to win after the great pressure put by the players, and their determination to score the second goal in the final moments.”

He added: “We faced the problem of the early goal, and it was difficult for us to come back. But we deserve to win after our great attack throughout the match, against Al-Khor’s strong line of defense.”

Regarding Akram Afif’s late winner, Xavi said: “Akram Afif’s goal is very important because it gave us 3 points. It also put us 6 points behind the league leaders, and therefore it is a very important goal for us.”

The Al Sadd coach added: “I was worried after winning the Qatar Cup that the performance would drop and I told the players that. It had made this match difficult for us today. Winning this game is important for our campaign in order to compete for the title.”

He concluded by saying: “We have a great character and we possess the ability to come back into the game. We are the ones making the matches difficult for ourselves. I hope that we will be in full focus during the upcoming matches and that we will not concede early goals.”