Shenaishil taking positives from last-four exit

Radhi Shenaishil preferred to look at the bigger picture after Iraq were beaten in the Asian Cup semi-final on Monday.

Despite their defeat in the Asian Cup at the hands of South Korea, Iraq head coach Radhi Shenaishil was keen to reflect positively on his side’s run to the semi-finals.

Iraq were beaten 2-0 in Monday’s last-four showdown as goals from Lee Jung-hyub and Kim Young-gwon saw South Korea reach the final, where they will face either hosts Australia or United Arab Emirates.

Shenaishil was philosophical in defeat and believes the squad have a chance to go on to better things in the coming years.

“As we knew, it was going to be a difficult match because the loser leaves and the winner goes to the final,” he said.

“Korea have quality players, many who play outside Korea in high-quality leagues.

“We made two mistakes and they took advantage of them but if we had scored early I think we could have managed to get a draw.

“There are good signs in the team that we can build for the future because we have World Cup qualifiers coming up.

“There are good quality players and hopefully we can work together to work for the future of the Iraqi national team.”

On his own future, Shenaishil said the matter was still to be resolved, as he is still contracted to Qatar SC in the Qatar Stars League.

“I’ve got a contract with the Qatar club and I want to thank them for letting me join the Iraq football federation and I have another game with them on February 5,” he said.

“After my contract ends with the club, I can’t predict my future, so after that I can sit down and discuss my future.”