Doha: Desperate for a win following a draw against Umm Salal, title-contenders Al Sadd will not take Al Wakrah lightly as they target to claim full points in their third match at the Qatar Stars League (QSL), today at the Al Sadd Stadium.
Al Sadd’s Head Coach Hussein Ammouta believed the opening stages of the prestigious league was important and his side will have register wins to get in strong position to achieve ultimate goal of clinching the title.
However, Ammouta expected a strong challenge from their third round opponents.
“Wakrah will be tough; I am expecting a strong response from them after their loss to Al Ahli,” said the Al Sadd coach in a pre-match press conference.
“Our aim is to make amends for the draw in the previous match against Umm Salal; we want to win, especially as Al Sadd always seeks to compete for the title.”
He added: “We lost our attacking aggression in the last match despite being very good offensively last season. We have to work hard and seriously to perform at our best and get the win, especially as all the teams are playing defensively against us.”
“Khalfan Ibrahim and Ibrahim Majid played with the reserve team against Mesaimeer but neither has reached full readiness yet. In addition to that, there are the four Olympic team players who will miss the next two matches.”
Al Wakrah Head Coach Jose Mauricio admitted a tough challenge as his team faces the Doha football giants.
“We will be confronting one of the toughest teams in the league in their stadium. We all know the differences between the Qatari teams. Al Sadd is one of the most distinguished teams so I will be focusing on my team rather than on the opponents,” he said.
“Usually I don’t like to speak about excuses but lots of circumstances weren’t on our side. After returning from the external training camp in Italy we had 30 players as well as a number of the youth players. But now we are suffering from some injuries. We have to find other solutions especially with the lack of under 23 players available in the next two Rounds. We will continue the hard work; I am hoping to get some positive results in the future.”
In other match today, Al Sailiya will look open their account as they meet debutants Mesaimeer at the Al Arabi Stadium.
“We have tried to arrange and gather ourselves after the first two losses. We have worked on both the mental and technical aspects of the players especially the lack of scoring goals,” said Al Sailiya’s Head Coach Sami Trabelsi.
“This match is not going to be easy as everyone is expecting us to win. Mesaimeer also is having a hard time but it is a very stubborn team with a good group of players. We had a bad start like both Chelsea and Juventus. We are awaiting the first victory which will give us confidence and spirit to move.” THE PENINSULA
