Boys were nervous: Al Nasr coach

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Boys were nervous: Al Nasr coach
Action from the Al Nasr-El Jaish match

Dubai - Al Nasr tried hard but couldn't convert their possession to goals

By KT Sports

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Published: Thu 15 Sep 2016, 8:09 PM

Last updated: Thu 15 Sep 2016, 10:11 PM

Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic said his boys were 'nervous' going into the match against El Jaish on Wednesday night.
Al Nasr eventually lost their second leg of the AFC Champions League quarterfinal to the Qatari side. Al Nasr's 3-0 first leg win was overturned by the AFC citing ineligibility of Wanderley Santos. 
Thus, El Jaish were handed victory. In the return leg, Brazilian striker Romarinho scored to knock Al Nasr out at the Al Maktoum Stadium.
On Wednesday, Al Nasr tried hard but couldn't convert their possession to prized goals. And they needed exactly five to set up a semi-final clash with Al Ain.
"Our players didn't put on a good performance in the first half because they were nervous and that's why we conceded an early goal," said Jovanovic.
The coach made few changes in the second-half and Jassim Yaqoob's injection worked well. But Al Nasr had plenty of near-misses.
"In the second half we controlled the ball and we reached El Jaish goal several times but we failed to take those chances."
Salem Saleh even found the woodwork in dying minutes. It was a night when nothing was going right for the Dubai side.
"We started our campaign in February and we are now out of the competition having learned a lot of lessons," said Jovanovic. "The players deserved to reach a better stage as they worked really hard in the previous games and in tonight's match as well."
The club thanked their fans for their undying support.


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