DOHA: Former champions Al Sadd are likely to give the reserve players a go against Umm Salal today when the two sides meet in a round 15 clash in the Qatar Stars League (QSL).
Playing under a new coach for a little over a month, Al Sadd are in fourth place behind Al Rayyan, El Jaish and Lekhwiya in the QSL points race.
“We will miss players because of injuries and players being away with the Olympic team. It’s a good opportunity to give the bench a chance,” coach Jesualdo Ferreira said yesterday.
Barcelona legend Xavi, Korean defender Lee Jung-Soo and striker Mohamed Kasola will be missing this match because of injuries.
“I believe the absences will not be a big problem for us because we have players who can replace them. But Umm Salal is a good team and will make it difficult for us,” Ferreira said..
“It’s going to be a difficult game for us. The games that we have had so far have been tough for us. We changed a few players in the last game. But we are focussing on getting three points from this game,” he added.
Ferreira, who replaced Hussein Amutah as Al Sadd coach at the end of November, said he is targeting wins with the Doha giants. “When I started working with the Al Sadd team our target was to win the title and other competitions. I am always working to win titles, that’s how I function,” Ferreira said.
“And that’s also the mentality of the Al Sadd players. But now the title will be difficult since it doesn’t depend only on our results. It depends on Rayyan’s results too. When I came here the gap was the same between us and Al Rayyan.
“In football anything can happen and we will play only to win. We will give our maximum to be at the top,” Ferreira said.
To a question, Ferreira said Al Sadd always provided players for Qatar’s national squads.
“I am proud to have these many players playing for the national team of Qatar. It’s a good thing for our club. We are happy to have these players in the national team but at the same time we have had injuries which made it difficult for us,” Ferreira said.
“But we have to look at the positive side. To have players in the national team is good for the team and is good for the players too. It makes the them stronger but if they are not here I, as a coach, have to find solutions,” he added.
Umm Salal coach Bulent Uygun he is also struggling to put things together for the game today. “During the games that we have played we had a few injuries and some tired players. Just like other teams because we played many games in a short time,” Uygun said in a pre-match press conference yesterday.
“After that we had a 12-day break. Tomorrow have a game and then a long break after that. This kind of schedule can be difficult for players. Our game against Al Sadd will be a tough game. Both have injuries and absences but we will play for three points. That is our target,” Uygun said.
“We will try to win and after that we will try to work more during the break in order to come back stronger in the second half. We are playing against a team that has good attacking players like Hassan Al Haydous. They are a strong team and hopefully we will remain focussed and get the maximum out of this tough game.
“We have limited squad but we are working with that and trying to find the bet XI to play. We had injuries also that affected our team’s performance. Without those injuries we could have been in the top-4. During the break we will try to help the players to recover and come back stronger,” Uygun said.
The game today starts 4:15pm at Al Ahli Stadium. The Peninsula
