Graham Arnold explains reasons for setback against Oman

Australia's Graham Arnold, coach of Iraq, expressed relative satisfaction with his players' performance in the first half, but he admitted that the team significantly declined in the second half. This was during the press conference following the 1-1 draw against Oman in the opening of Gulf Cup 27.

Arnold said: "We played well and organized in the first half, we were the better team, dominated possession and created many chances, and we scored an early goal that we could have built on, but football is played over two halves."

The Australian coach added: "In the second half, things changed; the humidity was very high and clearly affected some players. We were not quite used to this weather, and we lost energy in the last 30 minutes, which is natural in tournaments held in a gathering format."

Regarding the injuries that hit the team, Arnold explained: "Mustafa Saadoon and Mohammed Qassim suffered injuries during the half-time, which forced us to change our plan. We had to make substitutions, and these things happen in football, but it confused us a little. There were also other injuries on the pitch for both teams."

Mustafa Saadoon stated: "I don't want to make excuses, the Oman national team is a good and organized team and deserved the draw. They pressured us in the second half and scored a goal, but I still trust my players. We played a fairly good match, and we could have scored more in the first half."

Regarding what lies ahead, Arnold said confidently: "This is just the beginning, one point is better than nothing in a tough group. Now we need to recover well, get our injured players back, and focus on the next match. We came to Jeddah for the title and we will fight until the last moment. The tournament is still long."

Trent Alexander-Arnold concluded his remarks with a message to the Iraqi fans who attended in large numbers: "I thank the Iraqi fans who came and supported us, we heard their voices throughout the match, and I promise them that we will do better in the next match."