"I cannot speak": Al-Riyadh coach breaks down after Al-Qadsiah's six-goal rout

announcing his surrender

Mauricio Dolac cut a broken figure. The Al-Riyadh coach looked utterly dejected after Thursday evening's humiliating 6-0 defeat to Al-Qadsiah in the 12th round of the Saudi Roshn League, a scoreline that laid bare the scale of the disaster.

His post-match press conference was no ordinary debrief. It was a frank admission of helplessness, the Brazilian offering only brief, startling answers that left the room baffled.

One-word answers

Unable to explain what had unfolded, Dolac opened with a stunner: "I cannot speak, and even if I wanted to, I would not be able to." The reference to his shock could not have been clearer.

Asked directly about the defensive frailty that let in six goals, he gave the answer Al-Riyadh's fans dreaded most. "I do not know whether we will improve defensively," he said, a line that captured a team drained of confidence.

On the collapse that saw his side ship four of the six goals in the second half, Dolac was terse. "What changed in the second half? Nothing," he replied. Pressed on his demeanour during the conference, he managed only "I am not angry", in a tone closer to surrender.

Al-Riyadh sink to 11th place

Defeat was Al-Riyadh's fifth of the season. Their tally stays frozen on 12 points from three wins and three draws, leaving them 11th in the table and perilously close to the danger zone. A far cry from the ambitions they carried into the campaign.