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Al Abdali hails Al Taawoun’s resilience

Al Abdali hails Al Taawoun’s resilience

Buraidah: A dramatic 4-2 penalty shootout win against Tractor FC leaves Al Taawoun FC only two steps away from being crowned AFC Champions League Two™ 2024/25 winners, much to the delight of head coach Mohammed Al Abdali.
Injuries and suspension made things difficult for Al Abdali in preparation for the second leg at Wolves Park with the 51-year-old applauding his players’ incredible fitness after penalty misses from Tractor’s Mehdi Shiri and Sajjad Ashourimeidani sealed their semi-final spot.
#ACLTwo | QF, 2nd Leg: Al Taawoun FC (KSA) 2-2 AET (2-2 AGG; 4-2 PSO) Tractor FC (IRN)

#ACLTwo | QF, 2nd Leg: Al Taawoun FC (KSA) 2-2 AET (2-2 AGG; 4-2 PSO) Tractor FC (IRN)

"The match wasn't easy due to the injuries to Mutab (Al Mufarrij) and (Renne) Rivas, in addition to the suspension of Waleed (Al Ahmad),” said Al Abdali.

“Things were complicated, but we won. I thank the Al Taawoun fans and promise them that we won't stop at this stage, as we will continue until the end."
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"Everything that happened to us had a positive impact. Maybe Tractor having the weekend off to prepare for this game affected them negativily.

"We worked recently to prepare all the players to avoid fatigue. We worked to ensure that they were ready for every match, and this helped us a lot."
Tractor drew first blood through Ricardo Alves in the 50th minute but Musa Barrow restored parity just four minutes later to take the tie into extra time.

Sultan Mandash then scored for Al Taawoun two minutes into extra time before Damagoj Drozdek equalised to send the tie into a shootout where all four takers for Al Taawoun converted.
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Tractor head coach Dragan Skocic felt his side competed well but admitted their failure to finish chances in the first leg cost them.

"Our home match is the reason we are eliminated, as we had six chances but failed to score," said Skocic.

"This match was even, with both teams exchanging scoring opportunities, and there were good moments for each team throughout the match."

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