The Peninsula
Al Sadd will be adopting a match-by-match approach as they head into one of the busiest periods of the season, said assistant coach David Prats.
Speaking to journalists ahead of today’s Amir Cup Round of 16 matche against Al Kharaitiyat, Prats said: “All the tournaments are important for Al Sadd. Yes, they are different tournaments, such as the AFC Champions League, the QSL, Ooredoo Cup and the Amir Cup, but we want to compete in all of these tournaments and fight with our maximum strength to win. We will take the game-to-game approach, tournament-by-tournament approach.”
“Our focus will be on winning the next game against Al Kharaitiyat and after that, we will begin to prepare for the two AFC Champions League games against Al Nassr and Sepahan, which is important to us,” he added.
Al Sadd begins their AFC Champions League campaign with an away match against Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr on February 11, followed by a match against Sepahan on February 18 in Doha.
The Wolves, who are third in the QNB Stars League behind Al Duhail and Al Rayyan, will begin their Amir Cup Round of 16 campaign against Al Kharaitiyat on Thursday evening at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium at Al Duhail Stadium.
“The game against Al Kharaitiyat will not be easy. They have good players, with many of them having played in the first division. We must maintain this same performance in order to win and reach the quarter-finals,” added Prats.
Prats said Al Sadd is targeting a place in the final: “Al Sadd plays to win every match, and our aim is to reach the final of the Amir Cup.”
Al Sadd lost years’ Amir Cup final to Al Duhail and Prats said if they maintain the same level of consistency reaching the final will not be much of a problem.
“Yes, we lost the previous final against Al Duhail but this is a new tournament. We are excited to play and win in a competitive atmosphere and if we maintain our level, I think we will be able to reach the final,” he added.
Meanwhile, Al Sadd has hired a Mexican player, Marco Fabian and Prats said coach Xavi will assign specific roles to Fabian and Ivorian Gervinho.
“Marco Fabian is an attacking midfielder, who differs from striker Gervinho, and we will see about his position in the team. He will help us with all his strength. Xavi is the one who will decide his position with the team,”, the assistant coach said.
Al Kharaitiyat coach Yousif Adam said his team will give their best against Al Sadd and aim to pick up a surprise win.
“We have a huge task ahead. We will be playing against one of the best teams not only in Qatar but which is among the top 15 clubs of Asia,” said Adam.
Al Sadd has its weakness and they are beatable, said Adam.
“In the QSL Al Sadd have lost to Wakrah and that gives us hope of pulling an upset. We have seven to eight players who have played for the top clubs in Qatar, so we are not short on the experience front,” said the Al Kharaitiyat coach, whose team is leading the points table in the second division league.
Meanwhile, Al Sadd’s Ayoub Mashhour said a win was on his mind when they take on Al Kharaitiyat which will take them to the next stage of the tournament.
Ayoub said: “We faced Al Kharaitiyat more than once in the league, and we faced problems against them. Our aim (in the next game) is to win. We will look to score early on and get to the quarter-finals.”
The Al Sadd player, who recently returned from a loan move, added: “Al Sadd always depends on the young players. My loan move was to increase my experience. I am looking to gain the confidence of the coaching staff in order to be with the team in the next stage.”