The head coach of Sudan has said lack of good preparations had a huge impact in the way they performed at the on-going FIFA Arab Cup 2021 in Qatar

Coach Hubert Velud’s team lost all the three Group D matches at the competition conceding 10 goals and scoring none.

“These are the same players who helped the team qualify for AFCON and the FIFA Arab Cup. But because we have had some challenges in Sudan with the League not played for over two months and not enough preparations, all this affected our team,” said Velud.

Sudan lost their third straight Group D game on Tuesday night to Lebanon. Ali Abu Ashyn netted an own goal after 76th minutes, while each team had a player sent-off.

“I cannot say we played well at the FIFA Arab Cup because we lost all the three matches. We need to go back and correct several mistakes and also prepare better for the Africa Cup of Nations,” said Velud.

The Sudan team kick started their FIFA Arab Cup 2021 campaign with a 4-0 loss to Algeria, before they suffered another 5-0 defeat to Egypt where they also had two players sent-off.

African sides Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco have all qualified for the quarter final stage at the on-going FIFA Arab Cup 2021.

Tunisia will face Oman, while hosts Qatar take on United Arab Emirates in the second quarter final match. Egypt will battle Jordan, and defending champions Morocco face Algeria in the other quarter final ties.

_{The Sudan national team will open their 2021 FIFA Arab Cup group campaign against Algeria on December 1st.}

_{Sudan are the only team from the CECAFA region that qualified for the group stage of the tournament which will take place November 30th to December 10th in Doha, Qatar.}

_{While Sudan ejected Libya 1-0 in the preliminary round played in June, 2021, Djibouti and South Sudan failed to make it to the group stage.}

_{Sudan will face the reigning African champions on December 1st at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan. The Falcons of Jediane will face Egypt in their second Group D match on December 4th before battling Lebanon in the last match three days later.}

_{Sudan coach Hubert Velud is expected to take the team to camp in the middle East ahead of the tournament which will bring together 16 teams. But Sudan will first play two of their matches next month in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers before heading to camp for the FIFA Arab Cup.}

_{The 16 teams that will battle in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup include; Sudan, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Syria, Mauritania, Iraq, Oman, Bharain and hosts Qatar.}