Xavi 'very sad, very disappointed and very angry' after Al Sadd slump to ES Tunis loss

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Modified 18 Dec 2019, 02:44 IST

Al Sadd boss Xavi was left feeling angry with his players after they suffered a heavy 6-2 defeat to ES Tunis at the Club World Cup on Tuesday.

The Qatar champions were dismantled by a hat-trick from forward Hamdou Elhouni, producing what their head coach described as a "very disappointing" performance at Doha's Khalifa International Stadium in the fifth-place play-off.

Al Sadd did play the majority of the contest with 10 men after defender Abdelkarim Hassan was deemed to have blocked a goal-bound shot with his hand, leading to a straight red card.

Yet Xavi did not hold back in his post-match assessment, telling a news conference: "I'm very sad, very disappointed and very angry because we played the first two matches really well.

"This is a premium for us and I can't understand the team today. This is not what we want.

"We are Al Sadd and we're playing against African champions and our attitude during the first 20 minutes isn't acceptable."

@ESTunis1919 finish in fifth place

Their 6-2 win over hosts Al Sadd equals the biggest ever scoreline in #ClubWC history (Gamba Osaka 3-5 Manchester United in 2008)
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) December 17, 2019

Former Barcelona and Spain international Xavi, who took charge in May after four years as a player with the club, acknowledged an improvement from his players following the dismissal of Hassan.

"After we got the red card we played okay," he added. "We played with good attitude, intensity.

"I cannot accept the first 30 minutes, it's impossible to accept. I'm very angry, we need to find the solution. It was a really bad result

"We have to come back of course. We're in a bad moment because we couldn't compete well, but our reality is to win the local competitions and start well in the Asian Champions League.

"This competition was a gift. Now we have to come back."

Published 18 Dec 2019, 02:44 IST