DOHA: When they faced each other sporting the Real Madrid and Barcelona jerseys respectively, sparks flew as the two produced sublime football in Europe.
Fast forward to 2018, Dutch star Wesley Sneijder and Spanish great Xavi Hernandez will renew their rivalry in Doha today when Al Gharafa host Al Sadd in a key clash QNB Stars League (QSL) clash.
Since his arrival at the club earlier this month, Sneijder has injected some much-needed bravado in the Al Gharafa’s ranks as The Cheetahs have claimed back-to-back victories to leapfrog to sixth spot in the standings.
The retired Dutch midfielder is happy to meet Xavi on the pitch again.
“Xavi is a legend. I have played against him when he was with Barcelona and the Spanish national team. It is always good to have great players in a team,” Sneijder said on the eve of the match.
While Al Gharafa have shown good form, Al Sadd have displayed an equal level of hunger by thrashing Al Sailiya 6-0 in their previous game to stay second in the standings.
Sneijder admitted his team was facing a tough task as they bid to snatch fifth spot from Umm Salal.
“We want to be highly competitive on the field and beat Al Sadd. We want to show our best. We have scope for improvement and our young players are doing a great job,” he said.
Speaking about his QSL experience so far, the Dutchman said: “After I started playing in Qatar, I regularly get to see news about Qatar football in the Dutch media. It augurs well for this league. The organisation is amazing and the Qatar league’s future is bright.”
Al Gharafa will enter the field with a strong squad consisting of Diogo Amado and Almahdi Ali as well as youngsters Othman Al Yahri, Ahmed Alaaeldin and Amro Seraj.
Al Sadd, on the other hand, are likely to miss injured striker Baghdad Bounedjah, who sat out the first three matches in this season’s league and is missing in action since their loss to Al Duhail in Week 10, for this game as well.
However, Al Sadd’s Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira played down his absence.
“With Baghdad, we drew, lost and won. Without him, we have to play in a different way. This does not belittle his abilities, but I won’t cry over his absence. I will always look for solutions. I wish he returns healthy and 100 per cent fit to play, in order to help us in the upcoming matches which will be difficult,” he added.
Meanwhile, Al Gharafa assistant coach Bulent Bolukbasi said his team will go against Al Sadd with full confidence.
“We are pleased with our performances in the last two games, where we had 100 percent win record and we hope to continue that way. There is no room for let-up in a league competition. We must work more and put in greater efforts.
“We have prepared for the Al Sadd match in the best possible way. They are strong from the starting eleven to the bench, so we have a tough task on hand. We are trying out various combinations and you can see some changes in our line-up.
“We will play our natural game and we have our tactics ready and we will implement them. We have a good mix of youth and experience. We are also happy with the way our young players are shaping up,” said Bolukbasi.
