Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Air Force coach Basim Qasim hailed his team’s improved showing in the second leg of their 2016 AFC Cup quarter-final meeting with Syria’s Al Jaish on Tuesday evening as the Iraqis advanced to the semi-finals with a 5-1 aggregate win.
Four second half goals ensured the Iraqi side progressed to the last four, where they will meet with Lebanon’s Al Ahed or Muharraq from Bahrain, after the first leg had ended in a 1-1 draw last week.
“We had a perfect match against our opponents and we deserved to advance to the semi-finals,” said Qasim. “The players put on an excellent performance, especially in the second period when we scored the four goals that gave us the win.
“We managed to fix the mistakes we made in the previous match and that helped us to put on a better show tonight. The big win was good and hopefully we can continue with the same motivation in order to reach the final of the competition.”