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Buoyant Iraq target China next
Iraqi coach Adnan Hamd believes his never-say-die Olympic team can go one better than knocking Saudi Arabia out of the Asian Cup - by sending hosts China packing from the quarter-finals.
Speaking in the wake of Iraq's memorable 2-1 victory over the Saudis in Group C on Monday, Hamd said his team were now determined to bring more joy to their war-weary countrymen by defeating China. "Our goal now is to reach the semi-finals, only after we get to the semifinals, will we begin talking about what comes after," Hamd said. "For sure we are a little bit tired, but what I want to say is that right now I think the Asian Cup is more important than the Olympics. "But I am not going to give up on any matches in either tournament, Iraqi football right now must get exceptional results in order to boost the morale of the Iraqi people. We now are facing a historic opportunity." Iraq, who beat the odds to qualify for the Asian Cup after seeing football facilities shattered by war, showed off a potent attack and a tough defence to finish second in their group. Iraq beat three-time Asian Cup champions Saudi Arabia after goals from 19-year old Nashat Akram and substitute striker Younis Mahmoud, and were treated as hometown heros by noisy Chengdu fans in all three matches. Hamd said his team would not expect the same treatment in Beijing and may have to face the Chinese without team captain Abdul Wahab, who was questionable after sustaining an injury in Monday's game. "It goes without saying that the next match is going to be very, very difficult," Hamd said. "China is a very strong team and they are going to have the home crowd, the fans are going to be our enemy, so this will make it hard for us." The team, which prior to Monday's victory had booked tickets to return to Baghdad yesterday, is now planning to fly to Athens directly from China. Confident side A win on Friday would mean that the earliest they could leave China would be August 8, only days before the August 13 opening of the Olympic football tournment. Despite Hamd's careful statements about the Chinese side, his players said they were confident that they could beat the host team. "China is not like Saudi Arabia, the Saudis play a loose defense, but China will not play us so loosely, I have already made tough preparations," said Iraqi striker and Man-of-the-Match Akram. "We have our own strengths, especially our individual skills, if we can bring these skills into play and don't give China a chance to set their defense, then our attack can bring China a lot of difficulties." |
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