On Saturday, Harry Kewell’s Yokohama F-Marinos suffered a 5-1 defeat to Al Ain in the Asian Champions League final. Despite leading 2-1 from the first leg, they lost the second leg in the United Arab Emirates. To make matters worse, goalkeeper William Popp was sent off just before half-time.
Despite their loss, Kewell expressed determination for his team to bounce back from the defeat. He emphasized that they would use this experience as motivation for future competitions and ensure that they never faced a similar outcome again. Kewell took over as coach in late December and vowed that they would go one step further next time.
The match was not without controversy, as Popp’s red card and Kewell’s criticism of Al Ain’s sportsmanship raised eyebrows. Kewell was particularly upset by the refereeing decisions and believed his team had been treated unfairly. However, he saw it as an opportunity to fuel their performance in future games and learn from the experience.
Al Ain emerged victorious with two goals from Rahimi, a Kaku penalty, and Kodjo Laba’s late double. Yokohama’s only goal came from Yan Matheus. Despite the defeat, Kewell remained optimistic about his team’s resilience and determination to improve. Yokohama is currently in the bottom half of the J-League table but is focused on coming back stronger in future competitions.
Kewell expressed disappointment with his team’s poor performance and believes that they need to work harder if they want to succeed in future competitions. He also apologized for any offense he may have caused with his criticism of Al Ain’s sportsmanship.
The loss has put pressure on Yokohama F-Marinos’ management to make changes to their squad and coaching staff if they want to stay competitive in Asia’s top football competition.
Overall, despite their disappointing performance against Al Ain in the Asian Champions League final, Harry Kewell remains optimistic about his team’s potential to improve and compete at a high level in future competitions.
