QSL
Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 5 match against Qatar SC.
“I have discomfort with the recovery period of international players who returned after playing two matches in 10 days. Except for Al Sadd, who achieved a good result because they had some players who did not participate in the previous match and had seven players as substitutes, unlike the other three teams. Ourselves and Al Rayyan only had 72 hours to recover.. and we only had one day to fully recover before the match against Esteghlal of Iran.
“I am not saying that we have an excuse because we played a bad match against Esteghlal and I bear responsibility, but in general this situation is not good. Of course, we need more time to recover our players so that we can compete in a difficult tournament like the AFC Champions League Elite.
“The situation is different because we had six days to recover the players and we have no problem I can promise the fans that we will perform better against Qatar SC because I know that we need a quick reaction and it is important to win this match against a team that is usually difficult to play against, especially with a new coach who was here before, so we know that it is difficult, but we also know the importance of this match for us,” said Martins.
Al Gharafa player Amro Seraj said, “The players are adhering to the coach's instructions in training. We know the difficulty of the match against Qatar SC and we have to close the chapter of AFC Champions League Elite and open the new one for the league. God-willing, we will make our fans happy with the victory and regain our morale.
“With their presence in the stadium and their support, we can make all Al Gharafa fans happy.”