Doha, Qatar – Hamad Al-Muqbali, the goalkeeper of the UAE national team, expressed his sadness after the loss to Morocco in the semi-finals of the Arab Cup.
The UAE national team suffered a heavy defeat against Morocco, losing 3-0 in the semi-finals.
Hamad Al-Muqbali said in statements via Abu Dhabi TV: “We congratulate the Moroccan team and hard luck to us. The Moroccan team is strong and played a good match. They deserve to win today, and we were hoping to come out with a positive result.”
He added: “We didn’t deserve to lose, but that’s football. One day you win, one day you lose, and whoever misses gets punished. We wasted many opportunities during the match that we didn’t take advantage of properly.”
He continued: “God willing, we will make up for it and achieve third place, and come away with something better than nothing”.
He added: “From the beginning of the tournament, our ambition was to reach the final, but this is football, and all you have to do is work hard and hope for success from God”.
He explained: “Fatigue has taken hold of some of the players, as we are playing a match in less than 48 hours. Unlike the Moroccan national team, which had an extra day of rest compared to us.”
He concluded: “Thank God we reached this stage, and God willing we can make up for it in the future”.
Morocco awaits the winner between Saudi Arabia and Jordan in the tournament final.
