Juan Carlos: Al Ain Showed Their Strong Charisma and Fought Back to Earn a Positive Point from Azadi Stadium
Al Ain Head Coach Spain’s Juan Carlos Garrido stated that his tea snatched an important point from the home team and among their massive number of fans. “Al Ain players showed their genuine fighting spirit in the field and their desire to achieve a positive result. They proved they deserved to fly back home with one point in their pockets from Tehran,” the head coach stated in the post-match press conference held following the end of round 2 match of Group C of ACL 2019.
He added: “It is not easy to snatch a point when playing away matches, specially when you are playing against a strong and big team who is massively supported by their loyal grassroots. I believe the result is fair compared to the high-level performance, though we were so close to take the lead when Jamal Marouf’s powerful shot hit the post and resist to go into the opponent’s net.”
“In the second half, our performance went down following conceding the first goal. However, the squad returned to the match sooner and regained the required level of focus that enabled them to level up the result. By this result, we are still in the competition circle to win one of the two qualifying cards dedicated to Group C to the last 16-teams stage,” Juan Carlos said.
On the team’s chances to qualify to the next stage, Juan Carlos said: “I believe the competition to win one of the two cards of Group C is not easy as it has the biggest four teams in Asia. Therefore, qualifying to the next stage requires paying immense and dedicated efforts, exhibiting the fighting spirit in the field and enjoying high levels of confidence. I believe that we are so close to qualify to the next stage.”
