Ten Men, Tenacity, and a Tongue-in-Cheek: Conceição Laughs Off the Derby Drama
22 February 2026
Match context
Portuguese coach Sergio Conceição, head coach of Al-Ittihad, ridiculed a journalist after the derby against arch-rivals Al-Hilal. He then steered his side to a 1-1 draw at Kingdom Arena in the 23rd round of the Roshen Saudi Pro League, despite playing with ten men from the ninth minute after Hassan Kadsh was sent off.
Conceição's post-match remarks
In the post-match press conference, a journalist asked why the team defended for most of the match and appeared to lack a real desire to win. He answered with a smile: "I don’t know which game you watched today; with ten players we were more dangerous than Al Hilal".
He added: "The game wasn’t easy because of the early red card, but I want to congratulate the players who delivered a great performance and showed big spirit".
On the red card, Conceição said: "Regarding the red card, I respect the referee's decision, but the sending-off was borderline; 50% counted and 50% didn't, because Danilo Pereira was involved in the incident".
Kadsh was sent off in the ninth minute after VAR reviewed a foul on Malcom as he entered a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
He also commented on starting Albanian full-back Mario Metai in the lineup, while Portuguese winger Roger Fernandes was left out of the squad.
He explained: "Roger is important, and Metai started in the same position in the cup match and performed well; we plan to continue with the same approach".
But today the bench looked short; no foreign players, unlike Hilal which has high-quality options in both starting XI and the bench, yet we narrowed the gap through fighting spirit.
Regarding Mamadou Doumbia's display, Conceição said: "He’s a young player, but he still lacks some experience".
He continued: "What he produced today was high level, and all players performed brilliantly because facing a team like Hilal with ten men is difficult".
Finally, he concluded: "We prepare every match to win, but the red card forced us to defend more; nevertheless we were attacking, and our chances were sharper than the opponent's".
Punchline 1: If football were math, ten men equal extra danger—a real sum of suspense.
Punchline 2: Ten players? Great—my post-match quotes just made the headline read "Tenacity beats talent, again".
