Hassan Haydoos has hailed his team-mates following Qatar’s 2-0 victory to top Group E on Thursday evening.

The Qatar Captain should have handed the Maroons an early lead as Almoez Ali won a penalty for his side, however the spot-kick taken by Haydoos was saved by Saudi Keeper Mohammed Al-Owais. Despite the miss, Haydoos revealed that his team-mates kept his spirits up.

“Of course I was very sad and I thought it would effect the team but my friends, my brothers they told me don’t worry we will score the goal and we will win that game so I forgot the miss quickly.”

Minutes later Qatar made up for the spurned penalty and took the lead as Almoez Ali latched onto a through ball to decisively strike past Al-Owais.

Reflecting on the game, Haydoos also had a word on the change of formation for the match, in which they used a back five to soak up pressure and spring away on the counter.  

“Our team tactically did well as it was different from the first two games. Tactically we did very well as we did have much of the ball.”

“We changed our tactics to play five at the back, three in the middle and two upfront, so we could not press too much. Our main target is to press the opponent high up the pitch, and we did that today.” Added Haydoos. 

Attention will now turn to the round of sixteen clash against Iraq, and Haydoos admitted the clash in Abu Dhabi will be tough for the Maroons. “I think it will be very, very difficult I think Iraq has been doing well at the moment. I hope we can get the same performance or better in the Iraq game and get the result.”