Al Ahli Coach: ‘Sundowns Is A Big Club And…

Mamelodi Sundowns Claim FIFA Africa-Asian-Pacific Cup. Photo: Gallo Images

Al Ahli SC coach Marino Pušić praised Mamelodi Sundowns after his team’s defeat to the Brazilians in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

Check Out: Santos: It Was Just Another Day

Sundowns and Al Ahli faced off in the African-Asian-Pacific Cup in FIFA’s six-team tournament at Loftus Versfeld.

Nuno Santos’ brace was enough to hand Masandawana the win and send them through to the semi-finals, where they will face either CONCACAF Champions Toluca or the Copa Libertadores winners.

According to Sabq, Pusic discussed his team’s performance and believes they could have done enough to take the win, but praised Sundowns’ unity and quality.

“I think we played a good match today in the second half, and I think in general there was one team that should have been ahead in the first half by two or three goals, and that is us. I think we were unlucky in this match,” Pusic said.

“Sundowns are a team that have been working together for a while here and in the national team, and they are a team that plays well, but I think we controlled a large part of the match well without conceding big chances until the last 30 minutes of the second half,” he added.

While conceding defeat, he admitted he tried to exploit Sundowns’ weaknesses, but failed to convert their chances.  

“I think we also used their weaknesses well; we just didn’t score the goal, and I want to congratulate them as well because they won this cup,” he conceded.

“Sundowns are a big club and a strong team, and they deserved to win today,” he added.

Check Out: Al Ahli Star: Sundowns Is One Of The Best Teams I’ve Faced

“If we had scored the goals, the situation would have been different,” Pusic concluded.

Related tags