Melki: Our self-belief drove us to win the match

Sharjah: George Melki claims there is more to come from Lebanon after their dramatic exit in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 despite the 4-1 win over DPR Korea at the Sharjah Stadium on Thursday.

Lebanon came back from a goal down to defeat Lebanon, but their four goals were not enough as they lost to Vietnam on the fairplay rule after both teams finished with identical points and goal difference.

Melki scored the first half goal that fueled the Lebanon resurgence and the defender revealed that the disappointment of not qualifying for the Round of 16 was a bitter pill to swallow, despite registering their first AFC Asian Cup win.

“It’s not good right now. We won and its historical and everything but when you are just one goal away, maybe it feels worse than to be two or three goals away and we had a lot of chances," said Melki.

 


Match Highlights - January 17

The towering defender admitted that at half-time, the dressing room was fired up after levelling the score and the players believed they could win against Kim Yong-Jun’s side.

“We always believed we could win because in the first half, we had a lot of chances to score and they had an easy goal, but when we came in during half-time, of course we really believed and we were so close (to qualifying).

“At least we won. I think we played well against Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In the Qatar game we scored one goal but it was disallowed. We had a little bit of a tough time here (against DPR Korea) but we fought at least. So, it’s good.

“Now I think the future is bright (for Lebanese football)."


Source: the-afc.com