Al Sadd coach Hussein Ammouta (centre) speaks to the media at a press conference ahead of the Emir Cup final. AtRight, El Jaish coach Sabri Lamouchi.
By Joe Koraith/Doha
Two teams will get a chance tonight to end the 2014-15 domestic football season on a high. Al Sadd will take on El Jaish in the final of the Emir Cup at the Jassim bin Hamad stadium with both teams looking to get their hands on the prestigious trophy.
The preamble for this match is that neither Sadd or Jaish have been able to win a trophy this year. Today’s final therefore presents itself as a great opportunity for both teams to win the most lucrative tournament in Qatar.
Jaish came close to winning a title when they played against Lekhwiya in the Qatar Cup final but fell short there. Sadd had a close battle with Lekhwiya for the Qatar Stars League title but couldn’t hold it together towards the end and lost the battle.
Both teams have survived tough semi-finals to get here. Jaish had to fight tooth and nail to emerge victorious against Qatar SC while Sadd earned a semblance of revenge when they put in a strong performance to defeat Lekhwiya.
Sadd are the stronger team on paper and will also be boosted by the return of Khalfan Ibrahim who got some match time during their AFC Champions League match against Lekhwiya. The Wolves have won the Emir Cup 14 times, including the last one and so definitely don’t lack the experience of such big finals. Jaish, on the other hand, have never won this tournament and will be looking to make history tonight.
“For me there’s no payback, no revenge. We lost twice in the league. And we won in the semi-final of the Qatar Cup. But what I care about it is to win and to make history for our club. We are focused on that,” said Jaish coach Sabri Lamouchi during the pre-match press conference.
Lamouchi knows winning against Sadd won’t be easy considering their impressive track record and even more impressive bench of players. But he insists that his team will go all out to grab this trophy. “(Hussein) Ammouta is an excellent coach. He is putting in an excellent performance at Sadd. They are one of the oldest clubs and they have won the Emir Cup and other titles many times. They have big players with lots of experience. But we will focus on us and do everything we can to win this Cup,” said Lamouchi.
Sadd coach Ammouta will be under a lot of pressure to win this title so that their trophy cabinet for this season doesn’t remain empty but insisted that his team is ready for the final. “This is the last game of the local season. And it’s going to be a very decisive one. The winners will get their hands on a prestigious title and close the season in a big way. We are totally ready for this game. We will compete very hard to win this title and we will be focused on the details that will allow us to end the season with a trophy,” said Ammouta.
Sadd, however are coming into this match on the back of a bad result – they were defeated 2-1 by Lekhwiya in their AFC Champions League round of 16 first leg match. On the other hand, Jaish have had a week of rest. But Ammouta said that the three days that the team got were more than enough to prepare for this final.
“Of course, there’s a lot of pressure. We have played a strong game just three days ago. Jaish have had a whole week to rest. There were some bad refereeing mistakes during the last game. But three days is enough for us to prepare for this match. Our whole group is very ready. We hope to be able to put our best performance as good as it should be in the Emir Cup final. And it will be an honour for us to salute His Highness the Emir if we win,” said Ammouta.
“Our team has the confidence to produce good football against Jaish. They might have more determination but I think we have the weapons to finish the game and to win this trophy,” he added.
