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Umm Salal, under the stewardship of Moroccan Aziz Ben Askar, will run into leaders Al Duhail in Week 18 at the Al Janoub Stadium on July 25. Umm Salal are 11th in the league standings with 14 points, the same as Al Khor but behind on goal difference. The Orange Fortress have a goal difference of -18, as against Al Khor’s -8.
The team produced some positive results this year, after suffering a string of negative results in the first leg, ever since Ben Askar, himself a former Umm Salal defender, took charge last November. Among their overseas recruits, Ben Askar retained only Syrian striker Mahmoud Al Mawas, while offloading Brazilian Joao Victor, Spaniard Victor Vasquez, Ivorian Yannick Sagbo and Moroccan Adil Rhaili. In came Enes Sipovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Argentinian Raul Becerra, and the Algerian duo of Ayoub Azzi and Walid Mesloub. And forward Ismail Mahmoud has returned to the Umm Salal fold following his loan spell at Al Wakrah.
Besides intense training, they are readying for the resumption of action by playing some friendlies. They held Al Sadd to a 1-1 draw and lost 0-3 to Al Rayyan. Umm Salal, facing relegation threat, will be eager to continue their unbeaten run as they have not tasted defeat ever since their 0-4 loss to Al Rayyan in Week 12 on January 3. They then defeated Al Khor 1-0, drew 1-1 with Al Arabi, drew 2-2 with reigning champions Al Sadd, beat Al Wakrah 2-1 before playing out a 2-2 draw with Al Shahania (on March 5 before the long break).
Umm Salal’s other remaining matches in the QNB Stars League are against Qatar SC (Week 19), Al Ahli (Week 20), Al Gharafa (Week 21) and Al Sailiya (Week 22).
The team produced some positive results this year, after suffering a string of negative results in the first leg, ever since Ben Askar, himself a former Umm Salal defender, took charge last November. Among their overseas recruits, Ben Askar retained only Syrian striker Mahmoud Al Mawas, while offloading Brazilian Joao Victor, Spaniard Victor Vasquez, Ivorian Yannick Sagbo and Moroccan Adil Rhaili. In came Enes Sipovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Argentinian Raul Becerra, and the Algerian duo of Ayoub Azzi and Walid Mesloub. And forward Ismail Mahmoud has returned to the Umm Salal fold following his loan spell at Al Wakrah.
Besides intense training, they are readying for the resumption of action by playing some friendlies. They held Al Sadd to a 1-1 draw and lost 0-3 to Al Rayyan. Umm Salal, facing relegation threat, will be eager to continue their unbeaten run as they have not tasted defeat ever since their 0-4 loss to Al Rayyan in Week 12 on January 3. They then defeated Al Khor 1-0, drew 1-1 with Al Arabi, drew 2-2 with reigning champions Al Sadd, beat Al Wakrah 2-1 before playing out a 2-2 draw with Al Shahania (on March 5 before the long break).
Umm Salal’s other remaining matches in the QNB Stars League are against Qatar SC (Week 19), Al Ahli (Week 20), Al Gharafa (Week 21) and Al Sailiya (Week 22).
