Guardiola: We were unable to stop Al Hilal

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged that Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal deserved to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup currently being held in the United States. Speaking after the match, Guardiola said: "I congratulate Saudi Arabia on this fantastic victory. It has been an incredible journey for Al Hilal in the tournament. Our players gave everything they had, but that's football. We tried hard, but in the end, we couldn't score enough. We should have worked harder in the second half." He added: "Al Hilal deserved to qualify. We could have scored more goals, but they excelled at getting out of pressure, building attacks, and scoring. They defended solidly, created real chances, and we couldn't win the ball back enough against them. I congratulate them on qualifying." Guardiola pointed out the difficulty of stopping Al Hilal's players, especially Serbian player Mateo Savic, saying: "Savic is key for Al Hilal in defense and attack. He is a strong and intelligent player, and his passes were decisive and distinctive." He concluded by saying: "Al Hilal is a great team and has great speed on the counter-attack. We tried to create many opportunities, but we couldn't capitalize on them. Al Hilal goalkeeper Yassine Bounou gave a distinguished performance and saved many dangerous balls."