Tribune News Network
Doha
Defending champions Al Sadd will meet Al Khor at the Al Khor Stadium on Friday at 4pm as the Ooredoo Stars League makes a return after the international football break.
It’s a contest between the second-placed and bottom-placed teams of the league but Al Sadd with 18 points behind leader Al Duhail (22pts) are however wary coming back from the break.
Al Sadd coach Felix Sanchez speaking on eve of the match, said, "Things are always difficult when we play after the international break because the players return after playing two matches with their national teams and some of them have taken long trips.
"We have to evaluate the players’ condition in order to prepare well for this match, we know that we have a short time to prepare, but we are excited for this match.
"We have four important matches in the coming period, starting with our match against Al Khor. Winning matches is important, but we know that each match has its own story, we have to focus only on the next match.”
Al Khor coach Mehdi Nafti hoped that his team would challenge the formidable rivals. "Certainly, we all know that Al Sadd have good players but we do not look at the standings and I believe in the capabilities and potential of my players to get out of the danger zone.
"My team has been different for a month and is playing good football, but we lack results and as you can see how we performed in the last 3 or 4 matches, as the team is playing distinguished football, which makes us aspire to come out with positive results in the upcoming matches.
"The players are developing match after match and we are creating more opportunities and we have always been the better side in recent matches.
"We must work with double effort and with all our strength, and our time is short, but I have full confidence in my team’s capabilities. The transfer period is approaching and we must certainly have additions,” added Mehdi Nafti.
Al Khor are in the 12th and last place in the standings with four points from as many draws, five defeats and no wins so far while Al Sadd have accumulated 18 points from six victories and three defeats.
In the other matches of the day, Al Rayyan and Al Shamal will play at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium at 4pm while Al Gharafa will meet Al Wakrah at 6pm at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium.
Al Gharafa are currently fourth in the table with 15 points and Al Wakrah are fifth with 14 points.
Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins said, "Al Wakrah are one of the teams known for collective performance. They are a very good team and one of the difficult teams. The match has special importance because it is against our direct competitors and such matches require the necessity of winning.
"There was a break as a number of players were with their national teams, and this is a good thing to improve their readiness, and now they are in good condition, and this is important for us. There was another match for us in which not everyone participated and it was an opportunity for some players who did not participate continuously in the matches to participate, and today we are complete after 15 days, and we will seek to prepare for the Al Wakrah match and everyone is in good condition,” said Martins.
Al Rayyan would be looking to upstage the challenging Al Shamal with both teams on 10 points and placed 7th and 8th respectively.
Al Rayyan coach Younes Ali hoped his side would work hard to get a win. "The match against Al Shamal is important, especially since the opponents are performing well, and our position in the league increases the difficulty. We will need to work hard to get the three points.”
He added, "The team is in the best possible condition for this match, and that morale is high, especially after the victory over Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan in the last match of AFC Champions League Elite.
"Al Shamal are performing well and have good names in the attacking line, and we must be careful and the team must be in full focus from the first minute to the last minute, to get the three points, and the team must be mentally present to deal with the small details to win the three points.
"We played well in the previous four matches, but could not translate opportunities into goals,” said Younes.
On Saturday, title contenders Al Duhail will play Al Arabi at the Al Thumama Stadium at 3pm while Umm Salal will meet Al Ahli at the Grand Hamad Stadium at 5.30pm. Qatar SC will face Al Shahania at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium at 5.30pm.