Qatar’s head coach Luis Garcia commended his players for their tenacious performance in a hard-fought 1-1 draw against the United Arab Emirates in their opening Group A match of the Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait City on Saturday night.
Akram Afif gave Qatar an early lead, converting a penalty in the 17th minute before Yahya al-Ghassani struck the equaliser a minute into the first-half added time.
Reflecting on the match, Garcia – who served as assistant under Marquez Lopez before replacing him as the Qatar Coach – acknowledged the strength of the opposition and praised his team’s resilience.
“We knew this would be a challenging match against a strong competitor. My players delivered a strong, fighting performance,” Garcia said. “We retreated slightly after the first goal, but in the second half, the players showed great fighting spirit until the very last seconds. I am proud of their efforts on the field, and I believe the draw was a fair result.”
Garcia highlighted Qatar’s promising start to the game, emphasising that they could have extended their lead early on. “We began perfectly and had opportunities to double the score. However, the UAE team gained the upper hand in the second half. Despite this, we posed a significant threat with counterattacks and are overall satisfied with our performance,” he said.
Looking ahead, the Spanish coach expressed optimism about Qatar’s future matches, while noting the importance of refining their approach. “The time between matches is short, but we must work on addressing mistakes. I’m proud of what the players have accomplished and will focus on building on these positives to enhance our performance in the upcoming games,” Garcia concluded.
All four teams in Group A are level on one point and with the same goal difference after Saturday’s opening matches, with Kuwait and Oman also finishing 1-1. Qatar’s next challenges include a match against Oman tomorrow, followed by a encounter with hosts Kuwait on Friday.
Meanwhile, UAE’s striker Fabio Lima said his team missed a “golden opportunity” against Qatar. The Brazilian – who scored four goals in the UAE’s 5-0 thrashing of Qatar in the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifier last month, said: “We could have returned with full points from this game to top the group. It could have made our passage to reach the knockout round much easier,” Lima said.
“The players gave an excellent performance, and we were the most dominant and dangerous side on the pitch, but we couldn’t convert the final shot into a goal. However, the result is not too bad with the game between Kuwait and Oman also ending in a 1-1 stalemate.”
On his four goals against Qatar last month, Lima echoed the sentiments of his manager Paulo Bento, saying that every game was different and there was never any guarantee of repeating good results. “We faced the same opponent after a big win against Qatar when we last met,” he said.
“Everyone expected a big win this time, and maybe another 5-0 win, and this is completely untrue, because the match is different, and the competition is different. Qatar are a strong side and they have some outstanding players in every line.
“They played against us with the motive of not losing, so they were more defensive, and played for a draw, which they achieved at the end. Even with their defensive strategy, we created many scoring opportunities, but unfortunately we couldn’t put the finishing touches on those chances we created. Now we have to focus on the upcoming matches and obviously play well for the remainder of the tournament if we have to go all the way, which obviously is the objective.”