The Egyptian coach of the Al-Shorta team, Moamen Soliman, admitted that his team is the weakest contender in the current edition of the 2025-2026 AFC Champions League, due to the strength of the competitors and their significant preparations compared to the circumstances his team faced before the start of the tournament.

Soliman's remarks came after the positive draw against Qatari Al-Sadd (1-1) in the match held last night, Monday, at Al-Zawraa Stadium in Baghdad, as part of the first round of the tournament, which witnessed a large and distinguished audience supporting the team throughout the match.

He added: "What the Al-Shorta players presented in yesterday's match was satisfactory for me, especially when we consider the surrounding circumstances of the team and the difficulty of preparations that did not take long, yet everyone saw how the team fought on the field, and the performance was heroic and distinguished, and we were very close to achieving a victory of great importance."

He stated: "The match against Al-Sadd exceeded expectations, Al-Shorta was a strong rival and almost snatched the three points were it not for some small mistakes, and as time goes by and we play more matches, we will improve our fitness level and show a better version of the team."

He added: "The preparation period for Al-Shorta was very short, less than one month only, and the players who participated against Al-Sadd played together for the first time almost, and despite that, we succeeded to a large extent in concealing the weaknesses thanks to the players' experience and their great determination."

He continued: "Let's be frank, Al-Shorta is the weakest contender in this tournament, and even in facing Al-Sadd, we were not favorites on paper, but the performance on the field gave us the ambition to win because we were indeed close to that."

He concluded: "Yesterday's match will be an important starting point for the team in its Asian journey, we are preparing for tougher matches, and we will try to benefit from every encounter to correct mistakes and raise the physical and technical readiness, so that we can present a respectable image befitting Iraqi football."