DOHA: Qatar captain Abdelkareem Hassan on Friday termed his team’s
quarterfinals win over North Korea as ‘a great fight’.

Qatar on Friday beat North Korea 2-1 in extra time to reach the
semifinals of the 2016 Olympic Games qualifying event.

The top three sides will reach the football competition at the 2016
Olympic Games this summer.

“I thank God for this win. It was a great fight back by our side in
the extra time. Also, I want to thank my team mates for putting up
such a great fight,” Hassan said on Friday.

“It was an extremely match. Not an easy game by any means,” he said.

“We are hopeful of going all the way,” he said.

“We have played tough football in this event. Korean team wasn’t that
tough but they played hard in patches but we still stuck together,”
Hassan said.

“I am confident after suitable rest we will come back stronger. I
can’t say what will happen but we will continue to try our best,” he
said.

Striker Akram Afif – who scored one of the two goals for the home side
on Friday – said: “It was a team effort. Thank God for this win. We
are playing as a unit. You will see us producing committed
performances in the coming games also.”

In the remaining two quarterfinals, Korea take on Jordan while the UAE
face defending champions Iraq.

Qatar take on the winner from Korea-Jordan clash.