The Egyptian Moamen Suleiman, coach of Al-Shorta team, showed strange reactions, speaking for the first time to the Iraqi media, following his team's 5-0 loss to Saudi Al-Ahli in the AFC Champions League for elites.

Suleiman said: "The players gave a very strong performance against Al-Ahli, and they managed to withstand the team's attacks for a full 60 minutes, which is a significant factor because we are facing a team that has distinguished stars and is the defending champion of the previous edition of the tournament."

He added: "When you face players worth 20 million and above, it becomes very difficult and requires the players to be at their peak concentration throughout the match minutes. I believe the players gave an excellent 60 minutes, but unfortunately, we lost focus afterward for several reasons, including absences since the beginning of this season."

He continued: "Yesterday, I found myself forced to place the wingers in the positions of the right and left fullbacks for a full half hour, and against a strong team like Al-Ahli. Personally, I am proud of what we presented, especially since our changes were forced because most players did not participate regularly in group training sessions."

He added: "The result was large, and we did not deserve it because we reached the goal several times, but Al-Ahli is a big team and exploits mistakes well. These are the mistakes I warned the players against, but I will continue to guide them in hopes of learning in the future."

Suleiman explained: "We participate in the AFC Champions League for elites to learn and gain experience, especially since Iraqi players will face Bolivia or Suriname in the intercontinental playoff and may qualify for the World Cup. Therefore, it is necessary to gain experiences and play more matches against teams that present very high technical levels."

Moamen Suleiman gave a shocking response to the Iraqi media after showing great anger at a reporter's question that turned to the reasons for Al-Shorta's modest results. He replied: "What are the ambitions? Do we play for the final, quarter-finals, or even to qualify for the next round? Of course not, because our team cannot be compared to the other teams."