The Kuwaiti national team coach, Argentine Juan Pizzi, said that he is not worried about his future with the team despite the 1-0 defeat against Bahrain, the day before yesterday, in the semi-final of the Gulf Football Cup “Gulf 26”, and his exit from the tournament hosted by Kuwait.
Bahrain won thanks to Mohammed Marhoon’s goal in the 75th minute of the match, which was held at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, even though it played most of the second half with 10 players.
Pizzi said in a press conference after the match: “I am not worried about my future, and I do not usually worry about my professional future,” noting that the first person responsible for the football team is definitely the coach.
Pizzi emphasized that “everyone has roles, from administrators to team players, and each one is responsible for his work.” “I am responsible for organizing the team, the game plan and training the players.”
Argentine Pizzi congratulated the Bahrain team for qualifying for the final round, noting that the match was “very difficult.”
But the Kuwaiti coach admitted that his team was unable to benefit from the numerical increase after Bahrain’s Mahdi Abdul-Jabbar was sent off in the 52nd minute.
He added, “We tried to reach their goal, but we did not pose any significant threat to them.” Pizzi complained about injuries among the Kuwaiti national team and the absence of some players, but he stressed the difficulty of including new players in such tournaments.
He continued: “It is difficult in such tournaments. You cannot include new players in a large number. We recently included players who participated with us in the preparation camps.”
Pizzi pointed out that “this tournament will be very important in preparing for the completion of the World Cup qualifying campaign.”
“We are constantly preparing our team,” he added. It was an important experience for us. When you participate in such matches, you learn and increase your experience. “Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but you always learn.”
Kuwait will play against Iraq next March in the third round of the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup finals.
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