Veteran coach Mahmoud El-Gohari believes Asian champions Ittihad Jeddah lost to Sao Paulo because of their “clumsy mistakes”.

The Saudi giants missed out on a chance to reach the Club World Championship final after losing to Sao Paulo 3-2 in the competition semi-final on Wednesday.

“Ittihad’s defenders made some clumsy mistakes that led to the defeat,” the Jordan national team manager said in an interview with ART Sports Channel after the game.

“They could have easily avoided conceding the second goal if they had just concentrated on the ball rather than on Sao Paulo’s players,” he added.

The Egyptian tactician said that the turbulent psychological state of Ittihad’s players throughout the match played a big role in the defeat.

“Ittihad players lost concentration in the first 25 minutes of each half, which resulted in them conceding three goals,” El-Gohari said.

El-Gohari also noted that even though referee Alain Sars was right in awarding Sao Paulo the penalty-kick through which they scored their second goal, the French official discarded Ittihad’s claim for a penalty when the ball touched the hand of defender Diego Lugano.

Ittihad will play in the third-place playoff on Sunday against the loser from the other semi-final between Liverpool and Deportivo Saprissa.