DOHA: Qatar Stars League (QSL) outfit Al Wakrah will be seeking a return to winning ways today when they take on Al Kharaitiyat in a round 12 clash.
Last week, 11th-placed Al Wakrah were hammered 6-2 by defending QSL champions Lekhwiya in a loss that left coach Jose Mauricio urging a quick return to form.
“We have to forget quickly the last defeat against Lekhwiya and play this game with full concentration,” Mauricio said yesterday.
“It’s difficult to come back with motivation after a large defeat. It was a shock for us. Our performance wasn’t as good as we expected. But we will look to bounce back in this match,” the coach added.
Mauricio said 10th-placed Al Kharaitiyat have reputation for being good in counter attacking.
“We are playing a direct opponent and in terms of performance, they are also at the same level as us. They are organised, have good individual quality. We have to be careful in this game because Al Kharaitiyat are good on the counter,” Mauricio said.
“I think it was bad to concede these kind of goals. We are used to being a strong team, one that defends well and we want to go back to being that team. Hopefully we will show that in this match,” he added.
Al Kharaitiyat coach Amar Osim said a short gap of just four days between QSL matches wasn’t adequate. “It’s a funny situation for us. We didn’t plan to play with such a short gap between game,” Osim said yesterday.
“Al Wakrah have the same problem so it’s not an advantage for either team. But as a coach it’s not easy to prepare the team, knowing the capacity of the players to recover,” Osim said.
“Tomorrow the focus will be on how we can get the players to recover, more than how they will play. Recovery of the players will be the most important factor in the game,” the coach explained.
Osim said he has been informed that new referees will be on duty in the coming QSL matches, a change that coaches usually dread but eventually accept.
“We have been told by the federations that they will be using young referees. They will improve with game.
“By the time it is 2022, Qatar will have some very good referees. Coaches have accepted that there will be a few mistakes committed by the inexperienced referees,” Osim said.
“I haven’t heard too many complaints about the referees. But the penalty decisions are tough and are given too easily.
“Players are taking advantage of that and that’s not good for the game here in Qatar,” he said yesterday. The round 12 clash kicks off at 6:30pm at Al Wakrah Stadium.
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