Players of Al Gharafa and Umm Salal vie for ball possession in this file picture.
Early exits from the prestigious Amir Cup and the Ooredoo Cup sum up Al Gharafa’s nightmarish run in the last two weeks.
Now, to console their die-heart fans, ‘The Cheetahs’ are not left with many options, and a better showing at the QNB Stars League (QSL) will be their only chance this season.
Coach Slavisa Jokanovic is well aware of the fact and he wants his ranks to play for a victory when his side will visit Al Ahli today for their Round 15 clash.
“After exiting from two cup competitions in successive weeks, I hope there will be a reaction that leads us to provide a better level. We regret the recent results, Now what we think about is the next match. We will try to turn a new leaf by winning it,” Jokanovic said at a pre-event press conference yesterday.
“In football, there is always a next stage for you to think about. Now, we have Al Ahli match and we will do our best to get three points,” said the Al Gharafa manager. In one of the major upsets in Amir Cup, Al Gharafa were shocked by second division side Al Markhiya in the last-16 stage, before going down against Al Ahli in the Ooredoo Cup quarter-final last Thursday.
But, Al Gharafa missed key players like Hector Moreno, Koo Ja-Cheol, Ahmed Alaaeldin and Sofiane Hanni due to injuries during the games.
“Our performance dipped due to injuries. The solution is to be organised and keep working for all players. Everyone must be ready to take advantage of the opportunity and provide the best,” said Jokanovic.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli will come into the today’s match - which will kick off at 6:55pm – with completely a different mood.
Apart from advancing to the Ooredoo Cup semi-finals, the Brigadiers had also reached the Amir Cup quarter-finals by beating Qatar SC 2-1 two weeks ago.
Coached by Nebojsa Jovovic, Al Ahli are currently eighth with 17 points (five wins, two draws and seven defeats) while Al Gharafa are presently fourth in the QSL points standings with 24 points (seven victories, three draws and four defeats).
Al Gharafa had beaten Al Ahli 3-1 in the first leg and today’s game is a good opportunity for Jovovic’s men to break even.
“Certainly, after the positive results in the cup competitions, we have created a positive atmosphere in the team. Now we have the league competition. The most important thing for us in it is the next match against Al Gharafa, whom we beat in the Ooredoo Cup last week. On our part, we promise to give our best in order to achieve our target of three points. It will be an interesting match,” said Jovovic. “For sure, all teams in the league know each other’s strengths and weaknesses well. In the last game, we got to know more about Al Gharafa, which is a team with great capabilities and can compete for the first places in the league. At the same time, we have our quality.,” he added.
“If we get victory against Al Gharafa, then we are certain that we will stay in the competition in order to reach the top four. I have said that this match is very important because its result will largely determine the future of the two teams in this season’s competition,” said Nebojsa. Today’s other match will be played between Al Shahania and Al Arabi at Al Arabi Stadium. The match will kick off at 4:45pm.
