Metsu praises last-gasp heroes

Bruno Metsu, the coach of Qatar, says his team showed plenty of character after the most dramatic of victories put them through to the semi-finals.

MUSCAT // Bruno Metsu, the coach of Qatar, said his team showed plenty of character after the most dramatic of victories put them through to the semi-finals. A free kick in the dying seconds of injury time from Majdi Seddiq saw Qatar edge out Yemen 2-1 to knock the UAE out. Metsu's men face the hosts Oman in tomorrow's opening semifinal. Metsu said: "We had to fight a lot of odds in this game. Yemen's primary objective was to prevent us from scoring and they had 10 men falling behind to do that. It was a pressure game from the onset."

Metsu admitted this was the most nerve-racking situation he has ever been in. "It was very, very tense," said the Frenchman. "I have been in such situations many times before but this one had my heart pumping as never before. The pressure kept mounting as we tried every trick in the book. All the credit should go to my players. They never gave up." @Email:[e-mail]