We lost our first game against New Zealand and the second against Korea today, which means that we no longer stand a chance to qualify for the World Cup. This was a golden opportunity for us as three teams can normally qualify from each group, but we are quite lucky to have the Chinese hosts in our section, for their qualification is already guaranteed. In this case, even if they remain above Lebanon in the group, we would still have qualified as the 4th best team.

Unfortunately, a lack of leadership and selfishness in the deciding minutes of the first game made us lose the game. As for today’s game, we were able to cope with Korea in the first three quarters but crumbled in the last quarter. As far as coaching is concerned, we could have been better off with a coach. I hope this will serve as a wake up call to train and prepare better next time, and for the federation and concerned ministry to start investing in our youth again because we’re lacking talent.

On a side note, why wasn’t Rodrigue Akl on the team? Why go for players with zero experience like Abdel Massih or Jad Khalil?