Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hong Kong: Arbil coach Ayoub Odisho saluted his team's AFC Cup semi-final opponents Kitchee after the Hong Kong side gave his side a real battle on Tuesday before succumbing 3-2 on aggregate.
With the scores level at 1-1 after the first leg, the Iraqi side took an early two-goal lead in the return match at Mongkok Stadium that Kitchee were unable to overcome despite a spirited attacking display.
Ali Faez struck after just two minutes from a free kick that the home keeper Wang Zhenpeng unexpectedly failed to deal with and Amjed Rahdi's powerful header in the eighth minute off a Luay Salah cross proved to be decisive.
Kitchee came out with all guns blazing after the break but Gao Wen's 67th minute goal was not enough to make them the first Hong Kong team to reach the AFC Cup final.
"The result was hard luck for Kitchee. They must certainly be a very good team to have reached the semi-finals, and they were very close to getting to the final," said Odisho.
"The reason we won this game is that Arbil has good, strong players who believe in themselves. Everything I had planned for the game, they did. They have experience too, and so it's no surprise we are in the final.
"The weather was really tough. You could see we were all soaking wet. But we were lucky with the game in that we did not have too many problems because of the weather."
Kitchee coach Jose Molina was philosophical about the result and praised his players' unflagging spirit.
He also expressed gratitude to the supporters as Mongkok Stadium was sold out for the event with the crowd creating an electric atmosphere for the duration.
"I am sad because we aren't going to the final, but I am very proud of my players, because they played well for the whole match and they fought hard – both in this game and the first leg in Amman," said the Spaniard.
"We made some mistakes that now mean we can't go to the final, but that's football. No matter what, I am proud of how my players kept fighting until the very last minute. We had the chances in the second half to get all three goals that we needed, but we could not win this time.
"I want to thank the fans, who helped us by creating a great atmosphere in the stadium. It really was a big help for us. Now I feel that we need to continue working and improving, to try again next year to get to the final."