Australian team deserved the win because they were better, stronger and faster, Kuwait coach Nabil Maaloul told a press conference after the opening match of the 2015 AFC, which resulted in a 4-1 victory for the Socceroos earlier on Friday.
"I told the players during halftime break to pressure Australians even higher up the pitch, but the third goal in the second half brought down their morale," Maaloul said.
"We kept on losing the ball, especially in the first 15 minutes of the second half despite the strategy set." On his part, Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou said "we're pleased with the result and it's a great reward for the players' efforts. We got off to a very disappointing start, conceding a goal we should never have conceded. The reaction was great; there was really energy and intent in the tempo that we played." Meanwhile, Kuwaiti striker Bader Al-Muttawa attributed the loss to "over-defending" by players, especially after the first goal in the 9th minute of the first half, due to their young age and inexperience, which opened up the field for the Australians.
The Kuwaiti team has a good record against Australia with four wins, one draw and one loss from 10 internationals.
In the same group, Kuwait will meet South Korea on January 13 in Canberra and Oman on January 17 in Newcastle
About 16 teams will compete in the 23-day tournament, which is expected to be seen by at least 800 million people from about 120 countries.
The tournament's 16th edition is held in Australia across five venues in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne from Jan 9-31.
Source: KUNA