Doha, January 03 (QNA) – Al Gharafa’s Portuguese Coach Pedro Martins expressed his confidence in his team’s ability to defeat Al Duhail tomorrow, in the match that will be held within the 8th round of the Qatar Football League (QNB Stars League) for the 2022-2023 football season, resuming after the long hiatus that began September 14, and continued throughout the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 period.
The 52-year-old coach added in a statement today: “The team continues to prepare well for this difficult and important match, and it is waiting to show its strength, be a strong competitor and have the ability to control the match in order to win.”
The former Greek Olympiacos F.C. coach stated: “Al Duhail is a great team with good players.
I know it well because I have watched many of its matches, including the final of Amir Cup last season.” Adding: “The match is of great importance because Al Duhail are ahead of us by two points in the standings.”
Martins, who assumed the leadership of Al Gharafa last November, succeeding Italian Coach Andrea Stramaccioni, said: “There are doubts about the participation of Moyad Hassan, who suffers from an injury, and we will see how ready he is for the match. We will also miss national team players Amro Seraj, Ahmed Alaaeldin and Homam Al Ameen, but the rest of the players are in good condition and 100 per cent ready for the match.”
For his part, Al Gharafa goalkeeper Yousef Hassan said: “All players had prepared well for this match, which will mark the resumption of the league. We had played four friendly matches in order to prepare for the rest of the league and all players are ready. God-willing, we will do our best.”
Hassan concluded by saying: “Al Duhail is a big team, and it will be a great match between the two teams, as always.”, hoping to give a strong performance for the sake of their fans and audience.
Al Gharafa, who defeated Al Markhiya with two goals to one in the last round, has 12 points in its balance, with which it ranks fourth, two points behind Al Duhail, ranking third. (QNA)