By Rizwan Rehmat
DOHA: Al Sadd will be looking to complete a rare hat-trick of Emir Cup title wins today when they face football giants Lekhwiya in the final.
Coach Jesualdo Ferreira confidently said Al Sadd players have reached the title clash on home soil with capacity to nail the win.
“For everybody at club it’s a proud moment,” Ferreira said. “This Cup something very important. Our motivation is the Cup,” he said. “To complete is the hat-trick is more motivation.
“Our situation is very good. You come to the final knowing that you are full for ambition, for capacity to win,” the 69-year-old said.
“This final is different from other games. Our ambition is to play good, be strong and win the Cup,” he said.
Ferreira said his team knows small mistakes could matter in a high profile clash like the Emir Cup final.
“You can win and lose and 10 seconds. Time is short for mistakes. Our mentality is in the direction of (winning) the Emir Cup. Everybody knows Lekhwiya are no different to us since Lekhwiya are strong also. They also play well in attack,” Ferreira said.
When asked about the team’s preparations, Ferreira said his team has kept a low profile.
“Our preparations have been normal. It’s a week that we should not put pressure on ourselves. We played three days ago. Our motivation is to play this game and win,” he said
With services of Barca star Xavi available to him and the presence of high-scoring strike Hassan Al Haydos, Ferreira said Lekhwiya would be foolish to ignore other players in his experienced side.
“These (Xavi and Al Haydos) players are good. The team is now more coordinated. The balance is strong. The players you mentioned is one part of the team. Lekhwiya cannot play only these three players. There are many others,” he warned.
“As I said, the preparation has been routine. We don’t change our identity. We will play this game like other games. To have confidence is important. We must look at the players and be confident,” he said.
Ferreira’s counterpart Belmadi said Lekhwiya squad knows history beckons in the final today.
“We will play the Emir Cup final for the first time. This is the only trophy we have missed. We want to win. You don’t want to reach the final and not win. Other team also has the same target. We will do our best to bring the trophy win,” Belmadi said.
Belmadi said Lekhwiya’s loss to El Jaish in the AFC Champions League two days wasn’t ideal preparation for the Emir Cup final.
“That previous result hurt us. We didn’t expect that but it will be a different story for a thousand reasons. For a team like us, if you see the last two months, AFC, away from home, we are not a side that concedes a lot of goals. For that very important game against El Jaish it was a shock. You can lose but not like this. We have put our selves in a bad position for return clash (of AFC).
“But we want to win this for sure. I have full trust on my players that they will show a different attitude,” he said.
“I believe they (Lekhwiya players) will show character. I know we didn’t have a complete game to prepare. We played two days ago. Recovery has to be faster, especially mentally. It’s the final.
“It is one of the most important games this season. It will be tough for them also. I have confidence we can win this trophy,” the Algerian said.
“We are a team with strong character. We will show another picture tomorrow. We maybe down, not enough time to recover but it is the final. It is an opportunity with win this trophy. We will forget El Jaish loss and come with a different attitude.
“Youssef Msakni is important for the team. I wish I could have Youssef and Muntari for this game, for better organisation. We have to deal without them and we will. I am not going to complain.
“I know the strength of Al Sadd. They are a strong side.
“We might change or keep the same team for the final. We are struggling in the last 25 meters. It is something we have to fix,” Belmadi said. “We never reached the Emir Cup final before.
“We have a game to play. When we arrived in this league six years ago. We were new. It was most difficult to win the league then.
“But now we just care about how we prepare, how we play and how we can win this game,” he said.
The Peninsula
