We will have to learn from our mistakes, says Xavi

DOHA: Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez heaped praise his team after the 3-2 defeat against Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup here, but felt they could have avoided silly mistakes.

“I’m disappointed and sad. We played well, but made big mistakes. This is part of football. Yet, committing errors means a lot,” said Xavi. We weren’t efficient inside the box. Mistakes really affected us. We deserved to take the match into extra time.”

Sadd was outplayed by their opponents in the midfield as the likes of Baghdad Bounedjah, Akram Afif, Abdelkarim Hassan and Hassan Al Haidous struggled to win balls.

Though the Qatar Stars League champions raised hopes of a fight-back when Abdelkarim added the team’s second with a left-footed strike in 89th minute, but the effort wasn’t enough as the Mexican side secured a semifinal berth.  

“We didn’t play well in the first 30 and last 10 minutes. Monterrey is a strong side. Result didn’t go in our favour. We are sad,” added Xavi.

The former Barcelona star, who joined Sadd as a player in 2015-16 season, will now look forward to the fifth-place play-off against Esperance Tunis.

“We will fight to play for the fifth place,” he added.

However, the 39-year-old will have pull his socks if he wants his side to beat the Tunisian club, who lost 1-0 against Al Hilal earlier.

“We will have to learn from our mistakes. We need to commit less errors,” said Xavi.