DOHA: Football giants Al Sadd won’t take struggling QSL champions Lekhwiya lightly when the two sides clash today, assistant coach Hisham Zahid said yesterday.
Lekhwiya struggling to stitch decent form in recent matches but Zahid dismissed the notion they would be easy opponents.
“Lekhwiya are the champions. Despite their recent string of bad results, they are still champions,’ Zahid said during a press conference at Al Sadd Stadium yesterday.
“And in our mind we will consider them that - a Lekhwiya team playing to their full potential, and not a team that has had a few losses this season. We are hoping that we will play a strong match and get the win,” Zahid said.
“The game will be very difficult because we are playing a strong team like Lekhwiya. We are waiting for a big opponent and now Lekhwiya and Al Sadd are looking for a good position in the table. I hope that the game is one which the supporters enjoy,” zahid said.
Al Sadd are unbeaten this season but have three draws, two of them which have come in their previous four matches. This clash will be a good opportunity to showcase their title credentials, Zahid pointed out.
On speculation regarding regualr coach Hussain Ammota’s future, Zahid said: “I think that in Al Sadd the players are extremely professional. They know how to deal with this kind of situation. They are responsible players and will give their maximum with Ammota or any another coach.”
Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi said his team is eyeing a win despite facing ‘one of the toughest sides in Qatar’’.
“We are going to play against a big club, one of the best clubs in Qatar,” Belmadi said.
“They won the Asian Champions League a few years ago. Everybody knows the quality they have. It’s always a strong game when we play against Al Sadd. It’s like a derby for us. We want to win. We want to face the best teams in the league and we like these kind of games,” Belmadi added.
“For both teams, the standings are not important - for this game that is. It’s about two big clubs that are going to face each other.
“I can’t really comment on the coach because I don’t know if he will be in charge for this game. When you change a coach, there is always a question mark. The players don’t know if they will continue to play.
“Some players will have more motivation. So we can’t really know how the players will react to this situation. But there will be a need from the players to put on a good performance. And in this way, it can affect the game. To be honest, we are focussed on our team and on what we can do.”
“The motivation is there for every game. We take all our games seriously. Confidence to be honest is not something that we lose.
I am not happy when we don’t take points. For a few weeks now my squad is more or less complete, except one player. We didn’t have that from the beginning of the season and that is something critical for us.”
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