Dutch Rene Meulensteen, assistant coach of the Iraq national team, revealed the reason for the absence of Australian head coach Graham Arnold from the press conference after the match against Bahrain in the Arab Cup.

Iraq defeated Bahrain 2-1 in a match held on Wednesday evening as part of the first round of the group stage in the Arab Cup.

Arnold was unable to attend the post-match press conference as his voice was strained from continuously giving instructions to the players during the game, so Moilenstein attended in his place.

René added in the press conference that the team achieved an important victory and earned three valuable points at this stage of the tournament, emphasizing that the performance was the result of great effort by the players on the field.

With this victory, Iraq tops Group Four with 3 points, while Bahrain occupies the fourth and last place with no points.