Salim Cheniouni
Doha, Qatar- Persepolis upset Al Sadd at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium with a 1-0 win following a controversial late penalty in the first leg of the AFC Champions League semi-final, on Tuesday.
Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira has given his team words of encouragement ahead of the second leg, saying the ‘Wolves’ can turn things around in the key encounter.
“I am sure that Al Sadd are capable of returning with a positive result,” Ferreira said at the post-match press conference.
We still have a chance of winning the second leg. The team must believe in its chances in order to achieve this goal [of reaching the final],” Ferreira added.
“We are only thinking about one result, and that is to win the second leg in Tehran. This is the only result that will take us through to the final,” he said.
Al Sadd coach criticised Persepolis, saying the visitors resorted to negative defensive tactics in the game on Tuesday.
“Persepolis are a tough side. They were wrestling with us, it is not football. They wasted time throughout the game,” he said.
“We fought well but now we don’t have any option but to win the second leg in order to keep our title hopes alive. We know how difficult it will be but we have the desire to achieve it,” he added.
When asked about his team selection and plans for the return clash on October 23, Ferreira said: “Meshaal Barsham was injured and he wasn’t able to kick the ball. That’s why Saad Al-Dosari played, but he won’t be playing in the second leg because he picked up a yellow card.
“As for Hamza Al Sanhaji, he is our only striker on the bench, and I put him in to replace Hamid Ismail to add strength to the attack. Hamza’s lack of playing time in the league is not in our hands, it is due to the QFA’s rules,” he added.
When questioned on choosing to play with three central midfielders, Ferreira said: “If you look at the game against Al Rayyan, we played with the same formation and it was very successful.
“The second leg will be really difficult, especially as we are going to be playing in front of 100,000 fans. They have a big advantage because of the 1-0 win here. They also have great physical strength and will look to exploit their mistakes, but we can do it,” Ferreira said.
Al Sadd midfielder Ismail echoed coach Ferreira’s sentiments. “We controlled the match right up to the penalty,” he insisted.
“We felt some of their players were exhausted and so we tried to push forward to get the win but unfortunately, we ended up losing. We now look forward to going to Tehran and getting a good result there.
“We are used to seeing Iranian sides play an open game against us but Persepolis were playing in a defensive manner.
“I think they may play a more open game in front of their fans in the second leg, and that could turn out to be good for us; we could use that to our advantage and score the goals that we are looking for,” he said.
“Of course, we did not play as well as we wanted in this game but we now have a huge desire to perform at a higher level in Tehran and come back with a win.
“We have a good period of preparation lying ahead of us and, hopefully, Al Sadd will be in a better situation by then. What is important is that we fully believe in our chances,” he added.