DOHA: Qatar’s midfielder Assim Madibo remarked that finishing third in the FIFA Arab Cup was not his side’s goal when they entered the tournament.

The Qatari team clinched third place in the tournament after beating Egypt 5-4 on penalties on Saturday, following a 0-0 draw in regular and extra time.

The midfielder, who was substituted at the beginning of the second half, said in his statement to the media after the match, “We entered the tournament to compete for the Arab Cup trophy, but things go according to God’s will.”

He added, “We needed to beat Egypt today to take third place on this special day for the Qatari people, during the National Day celebration.”

“It was a complicated match, we faced great difficulties against a big team like Egypt, who could have also won considering the opportunities that they had, but this is football.”

Assim congratulated the Qatari fans and all the players on the team for today’s victory and expressed his hopes that the next stage would turn out better for him and Al Annabi.