Romanian Florin Matruk, coach of Bahrain’s Riffa East, expressed his joy at reaching the round of 16 of the AFC Cup, leading his group in the team’s first participation in the tournament.

East Riffa booked a ticket to advance to the semi-finals of the West Asia region after a 2-2 draw with Palestinian Hilal Al-Quds in the third and final round of the third group competition, which also marked a victory for the Syrian. Tishrin beat the Lebanese star 3-1.

Riffa led the group standings with 5 points in three matches, compared to 4 points for Tishreen and Al-Najm and two points for Hilal Al-Quds.

Matruk indicated that the match was difficult and his team made several mistakes in the first half and looked unlucky to score two goals before reflecting the picture in the second half and was able to show his usual level, which allowed him to come back with a result and go through to the next round.

In conclusion, the Romanian coach emphasized that it was time to take some rest before preparing for the next season and the second round of the Asian Championship.

Behavior / Donia Haddad