AFC Champions League Elite
Goalless in the first half, the already-qualified Tractor put the squeeze on Qatar’s Al Gharafa in the second half to snuff out their qualification hopes with Hosseinzadeh's 81st minute goal settling the contest after Mahdi Hashemnezhad had opened the scoring 20 minutes earlier.
#ACLElite | Al Gharafa SC (QAT) 0-2 Tractor FC (IRN)
“First of all, I have to say thanks to Dragan Skocic, our previous head coach who brought really bright days to the club and helped us reach our dreams,” said Hosseinzadeh. “We played a very good game and our performance was outstanding. We showed the best version of ourselves and I’m also very happy with my goal.
“We qualified with the best result possible which is third and now we turn our attention back to domestic matches before switching back to the knockout matches.”
“We qualified with the best result possible which is third and now we turn our attention back to domestic matches before switching back to the knockout matches.”
Tractor’s third-placed finish in the West Zone standings means a clash with United Arab Emirates’ Shabab Al Ahli in the Round of 16.
It was a spurned opportunity for Al Gharafa who could not take advantage of Al Sadd SC’s 4-1 defeat to Al Ittihad Club, with a dejected Pedro Martins not hiding his disappointment.
It was a spurned opportunity for Al Gharafa who could not take advantage of Al Sadd SC’s 4-1 defeat to Al Ittihad Club, with a dejected Pedro Martins not hiding his disappointment.
“We don’t deserve to pass because we were really weak in the last two matches,” said Martins. “We had a chance to go further but in the first half, we were really bad.
“In the second half, we started well but after that Tractor took charge. We didn’t react well which is unusual because we usually do. There are a lot of things to fix because this cannot continue.”
“In the second half, we started well but after that Tractor took charge. We didn’t react well which is unusual because we usually do. There are a lot of things to fix because this cannot continue.”
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