DOHA: Still without a win after five Qatar Stars League (QSL) matches, football minnows Mesaimeer are looking to pick up their first points in clash against Al Kharaitiyat today.
Mesaimeer coach Rodion Gacanin (pictured below) is not giving up just yet.
“Our team is playing better and better. I believe that we are playing the level of football that we can be satisfied with,” Gacanin said yesterday.
“We had chances to score in the last match but we didn’t convert them. We haven’t had the results until now and now we need to raise our game and get that win under our belt,” Gacanin added.
“If we continue to play like how we did in the last few matches and we are able to score then we get the points,” he said.
“Al Kharatiyat play with good organization in the middle and in defence. They look to attack on the counter. And they have good players for this style of football.
“They are dangerous when they go on the attack. We must stop these moves from happening,” Gacanin said.
“We have to take possession of the ball. It will be an open match. The quality is 50-50 between the two teams. And I hope that this match will go in our favour,” Gacanin said.
“It’s not easy but we haven’t given up until now. There are two teams in front of us with just one point. We believe in our quality. And one good result will change a lot of things. And I hope that will come from this match,” Gacanin said.
“In the last few matches we have had the same problem - individual quality in attack. We had 14 shots and three on target in the game against Umm Salal. That’s what we need to work on. Again, I hope that we will be able to do better in this match,” Gacanin said.
Mesaimeer went down 4-0 to Al Sadd before Al Gharafa beat them 1-0 as did Al Sailiyah in round three. Al Rayyan beat Mesaimeer 2-0 in round four and then last week they lost to Umm Salal 3-0.
Al Kharatiyat coach Amar Osim said he expected tougher matches in the rounds to come.
“We can say after five rounds that it’s not difficult to say that the league will be tougher this year, much tougher than last year,” Osim said. “Last year we had two teams who were promoted. But they struggled through the season. Even though at some stage Al Shahaniya came back and were able to fight for relegation. This year it’s going to be much tougher,” Osim added.
“Mesaimeer will be a tough team to play tomorrow even though they have no points and haven’t scored any goals. In their five games I would say that they look stronger than the promoted teams who played last year,” Osim said.
“But still they haven’t been able to score. Mesaimeer look more solid than those teams. So that speaks of the quality of the league this season.
“Except the first game, all the other games Mesaimeer were in the match for the entire duration. Against Al Rayyan they lost in the last 10 minutes. Against Umm Salal they lost in the last three minutes,” Osim said. “I feel it’s just a matter of time when they score and get points. For us the goal in this match is to postpone this for them for at least one game,” he added.
THE PENINSULA
