Al Sadd, with 15 Amir Cup titles under their belt, will be targeting a place in the semi-finals of this year’s tournament as they seek sweet revenge for their League loss against Al Wakrah at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium today.
Coach Xavi Hernandez and his Al Sadd team began the season by winning the Qatar Cup and later made it to the semi-finals of the AFC champions League. However, they are not having the same dream run which they had last season of the QNB Stars League and have lost to Al Wakrah 1-2 in their last meeting.
Despite that, the Barca legend yesterday said they are ready to give their best against Al Wakrah and move into the semis as they look for a place in the title clash.
“We are ready for the match against Al Wakrah. Our goal is to compete for title as our situation in the league is bad.
We have had intense training to prepare for this match. The Amir Cup Championship means a lot to us,” Xavi said during a press conference yesterday.
“Al Wakrah defeated us in the QNB Stars League and they have an excellent coach and great players. We are trying to reach the final and to give our best performance,” Xavi said.
“We are performing well but we are not winning, and this is football. We give our everything in matches. This is how we play and we must now be effective. I only worry when we do not create opportunities, when we possess and dominate, but not score. We must improve our performance,” Xavi said.
Al Sadd’s preparations for today’s match have been hit by several injury lay-offs, including national team captain Hassan Al Haydos, Pedro Miguel, Salem Al Hajri and Tareq Salman, but Xavi is confident that they can get past their opponents in today’s clash.
“The game against Al Wakrah is like a final. As for this season so far, we have been doing well, winning the Qatar Cup and reaching the AFC Champions League semi-final. We are only in a difficult spot in the League. The Amir Cup title is very important to us and winning it will make this an excellent season for us,” Xavi said.
Al Sadd qualified for the quarter-finals by defeating Al Kharaitiyat in the round of 16 with a 3-1 margin while Al Wakrah qualified at the expense of Al Shahaniya by winning it on penalties 10-9 after the scores read 0-0 at the final whistle.
Al Wakrah’s coach Marquez Lopez yesterday said his team is determined to face the strong Al Sadd outfit.
“It will be very difficult, as Al Sadd is a strong team and we know what their capabilities are,” Lopez said yesterday.
Lopez said: “We know that there will be several players absent from the ranks of Al Sadd for injuries, but they still have good players who can fill that void. However, we believe we can challenge them in tomorrow’s quarter-final.”
“Al Wakrah are also missing two or three key players, but we depend on the team play style, and our plans depend on the team as a group and not as individuals. Therefore we will not be affected by absences,” the Spaniard added.
“It is a very important tournament for us, and we will do our utmost to continue the journey and reach the semi-finals, and we will strive to win and overcome the obstacle of the star-studded Al Sadd team even,” Lopez added.
