The head coach of the Al-Taawoun FC first team Jehad Al-Hussain, and player Rakan Al-Tulayhi, spoke during the press conference that followed the match against Al-Nahda (Oman) about the course of the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw, in the first round of the AFC Champions League Two, played at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat.

Jehad Al-Hussain explained that dropping points in the match was hard on the team, noting that Al-Taawoun looked better in the second half, and said: Losing points is hard on us, we did not try to make many changes to the line-up, and in the second half the team looked better and delivered a better level

Al-Hussain added that he had been assigned to lead the team in this match, affirming that the technical staff and players worked to achieve a positive result, pointing out that the conditions of the game and the weather were not easy, but the team kept up its attempts until the end

The head coach touched on the attacking options during the match, explaining that Abderrazak's absence from the match, along with the participation of Al-Bahraoui, who plays primarily as a winger, in the centre-forward role, forced some technical solutions, noting that the short time did not allow enough work on some aspects, including set pieces

For his part, Rakan Al-Tulayhi, who scored Al-Taawoun's goal in the match, expressed his wish that the team would come away with the three points at the start of its continental campaign, and said: I was hoping victory would be ours and that I would be the man of the match, we managed to score, but unfortunately we could not hold on to our lead

Al-Tulayhi stressed that the competition is still at its start, and that the team will work to make up for it in the coming matches, adding in his message to the Al-Taawoun fans: I apologise to the fans for this poor start, and we know their ambitions were greater. The coming period includes a break, and we must use it in the right way and work on correcting mistakes and rotating the team, and God willing we will come back better

With this draw, Al-Taawoun opened their group stage campaign in the AFC Champions League Two with a point against Al-Nahda (Oman), in Group 3, which also includes Al-Rayyan (Qatar) and Al-Faisaly (Jordan)