• ‘Don’t think that we are finished,’ Frenchman says after defeat by Poland
• Green Falcons will play their final Group C game against Mexico on Wednesday

Arab News

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s soccer players will remain focused and keep fighting until the World Cup’s last moments, their head coach said on Saturday after the team’s 2-0 loss to Poland.

“I am proud of my players and football is a team sport in which there is success and failure,” Herve Renard told a press conference. “The most important thing is that we have one match (left) and we must remain focused.”

After an epic win against Argentina in their opening game, the Green Falcons failed to soar to the same heights against Robert Lewandowski and his Polish teammates at the Education City Stadium in Qatar and so remain on three points in Group C.

Despite the disappointment, Renard said his team were far from giving in.

“We will play to the last second of this tournament and we will not give up,” he said.

“We will play the third match with the same energy and we need the fans to be present and fill the stadium against Mexico.

“We didn’t lose because of luck but because we weren’t so effective, and I will support all the players. I made a lot of changes after the first half to have a good reaction and get back into the game.”

The French coach said the reason he substituted Nawaf Al-Abed was because the player had suffered an ankle injury.

“I am very proud of what the players have achieved … we should have tied before the end of the first half,” Renard told Alkass Sports Channel, adding that his team had worked incredibly hard.

“The most important thing is that we remain standing here. And don’t you think that we are finished,” he said.

Poland’s coach Czeslaw Michniewicz was also full of praise for the Saudi team.

“They have good players,” he said. “The best for me is the captain, No. 10, Salem Al-Dowsari, and goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais, who is a great goalkeeper and saved dangerous balls from our players.”

Poland had gained a hard-fought victory “with two goals against a valuable team,” he said.