Al Khaldiya head coach Ali Ashoor praised his players for overcoming a “complicated” situation and winning 1-0 away against Altyn Asyr FC of Turkmenistan in the AFC Champions League (ACL) Two on Wednesday night.
Ashoor revealed that his side were not used to the conditions at Ashgabat Stadium but were able to overcome them against a very tough opponent.
“It was a really difficult match – it was a complicated situation for us with the field and the stadium as the grass was artificial and our players are not used to playing on this kind of pitch,” Ashoor told the GDN post-game.
“Some of our guys have never played on a field like this in the last 20 years of their careers.
“We also faced a very organised team with very good players, some of whom are on the Turkmenistan national team, with an experienced coach who has been with them for 10 years. They played a very good match against Air Force Club of Iraq in their first game but lost 1-2.
“But we also played very well against them and we were focused on achieving our target.”
With the result, Khaldiya bounced back from a 2-3 loss to Al Taawoun FC of Saudi Arabia in their opening ACL Two assignment at home last month. Ashoor hopes that this victory acts as a catalyst for their campaign in the second-tier Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club competition.
“Overall, it was a good game, a strong performance from us, and I am very happy and proud of our players, who had a very complicated situation against a very good team,” Ashoor said.
“I hope these three points will give us more energy and more motivation to play better in the coming matches.”
Khaldiya are third in Group B of the ACL Two’s preliminary round. Air Force rose to solo first place following their 2-1 win over Taawoun in Wednesday’s other divisional fixture.
The ACL Two is one level below the AFC Champions League Elite and one above the AFC Challenge League.
Khaldiya are scheduled to return to action in the competition when they travel to Baghdad later this month to take on Air Force on October 23 at Al Madina International Stadium. The back-to-back Bahrain league champions then host the Iraqis in Bahrain on November 6 before playing their penultimate fixture of this stage against Taawoun in the Saudi city of Buraidah on November 27. Khaldiya wrap up their Group B campaign against Altyn Asyr at home on December 4.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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