Ahmad Jassim comments after draw with Diyala in the league

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya's coach Ahmed Jassim expressed his great displeasure after Diyala forced a last-minute draw against his team, ending 1-1, in the match that brought the two teams together at the Al-Madina International Stadium as part of the Iraqi Premier League, which saw a goal in the 96th minute from a penalty.

Jasim said: "We had a good first half, we were relatively the better team but without real effectiveness in front of goal. We tried to control the game and impose our style, but the team lacked the final touch. In the second half, we started better and succeeded in scoring, and we should have secured the match with a second goal, but we missed several chances."

The coach of Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya added: "What happened in the last minute is very painful. We were close to three very important points at this time, but the penalty in the 96th minute deprived us of victory. We need to review ourselves; there are concentration errors in the final minutes that are recurring, and this is unacceptable for a team of Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya's stature."

The coach stated: "I take full responsibility, and the players have done what they can, but the league is long and we will work on correcting mistakes. The fans have the right to be angry, and we promise them that the future will be better. We are still at the beginning of the season and our current position in 12th place with 8 points is not acceptable for us at all."

For his part, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya player Mohammed Jawad, who scored his team's only goal in the match in the 62nd minute, said:

"Thank God I scored the opening goal, I was hoping it would be the winning goal, but that's football. We deserved the three points, we dominated most of the match, especially in the second half, but we didn't take our chances well."

Mohammed Jawad said: "Diyala is an organized team and plays strongly. They pushed forward in the final minutes, which is natural because they were looking for the equalizer. We tried to maintain the score, but the penalty in the last second changed everything. I feel sad because we lost two points that were within our reach."

He concluded: "I thank the fans who attended and supported us, and we promise them to compensate in the upcoming matches. The journey is still long, and we will fight to improve our position in the table and return to our natural place in the competition for the top spot."