Al Soma: Syria will shine

Published on: 07 January 2019

Sharjah: A disappointed Omar Al Soma says Syria still have a lot to play for despite their goalless draw with Palestine in an AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Group B tie on Sunday.

Syria, who are featuring in their sixth AFC Asian Cup, had never drawn at the Continental showpiece in their last 13 games - with a record of five wins and eight losses.

The Qasioun Eagles raced off the blocks at the Sharjah Stadium and came close to scoring in the opening minutes of the game but were often halted by a stout Palestine defence, who had Rami Hamada between the sticks.

"Regardless of the final outcome, we are thankful, we should have got the three points from this match,” said captain Al Soma, who partnered Omar Khrbin in attack.

"We want to apologise to our fans, but nothing has been decided yet, and we are still looking to qualify from the group, we still have two matches (against Jordan and Australia) to make up for this result.”


The prolific striker, who plays for Ah Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, was unable to find the target against Palestine, despite Syria dominating possession and having numerous opportunities.

"We controlled from the start of the match, and were the better side. We kept trying but were unlucky in front of goal, because Palestine defended by numbers.

"Honestly, after the Palestine sending off, we should have used that to our advantage and played more offensively. Looking ahead, we have to get the results in the coming matches.”


Syria have never made it out of the group stages in the AFC Asian Cup but Al Soma believes that his teammates have what it takes to achieve their target when they play Jordan on Thursday.

"The next match (against Jordan) is not easy, this is the AFC Asian Cup and there are no easy matches, but we will have discussions with the team, and we hope to perform better and bring joy to our fans".

Source: the-afc.com

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