Eric Gerets rallied Lekhwiya after a few early reverses in the Qatar Stars League.
Winning begets winning – but on the flip side, losing is also a habit teams find difficult to discard. Often in football, it’s the momentum that decides where a team will end up.
Arsenal were title contenders in the English Premier League at the start of the year, but after a series of losses across competitions, they will now be happy with a fourth place finish. It is very tough to get out of the rut.
For Lekhwiya, in the Qatar Stars League, this could have been their story. They started off on a low note. They drew their first game 0-0 against Al Sailiya and lost the second 0-2 to Al Kharaitiyat.
Considering that Lekhwiya had finished runners-up last season, and that their opponents were not the strongest, it was a bad start.
But Lekhwiya didn’t fold and then went on a five-match unbeaten run which included a 4-1 thumping of Al Arabi and a 5-1 thrashing of Muaither. Confidence restored, momentum gained, Lekhwiya haven’t looked back since and are now all set to be crowned Qatar Stars League Champions for the 2013-14 season.
Today they play against Umm Salal and a win or even a draw will see them take the title. They are currently on 50 points with three games left in the season, including that of today, and their nearest rivals, Al Sadd are nine points down.
“Our absolute priority was to challenge for the title this season. In the beginning of the season I wasn’t so sure since we had a bad start but since the New Year we have been playing fantastic football. Now we are at the end of a long road and we want to finish it in style,”
Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets told reporters during the pre-match press conference.
While a draw will suffice to wrap up the title, Gerets says his team always play for a win. “Lekhwiya always plays for the three points but in some situations you are confronted with a team who plays an exceptional game and so it happens that sometimes after 90 minutes you have to settle for the 1 point,” said the coach.
The Belgian praised his players for the effort they have put in to get the title this season. If I have to rate our season, I would say that the run of nine wins at the start of this year is what made our season. I am very proud of my players. They have shown exceptional attitude and effort,” said Gerets.
Lekhwiya midfielder Luiz Martin said the players now had the experience and that was what helped them put in such a strong performance. “I think there is no comparison between now and when we first won the league. We are more experienced as we have been together longer, we have played in the champions league as well, we are certainly better in many ways. Experience always helps,” said Martin.
Having finished runners-up to Al Sadd last year, Lekhwiya will be elated at having snatched back the title. Al Sadd coach Hussein Ammouta knew that only a catastrophic meltdown from Lekhwiya would give his team a chance.
“We will not give up the chase for the title but it is in Lekhwiya’s hands to lose so we will focus on our games and hope they slip up.” Al Sadd face Al Sailiya in their match today.
Lekhwiya have been dominant this season and other teams acknowledge
that. “For me the title for the league is finished, I can even say congratulations and they deserve it because they have lead for most of the season,” said El Jaish assistant coach Saad Shebi. His team take on Al Ahli today.
Over to Lekhwiya now to wrap up their third QSL title in just four years as a top flight side.
Today’s matches:
Al Sadd vs Al Sailiya 06:15pm
El Jaish vs Al Ahli 06:15pm
Lekhwiya vs Umm Salal 08:30pm
Al Rayyan vs Al Arabi 08:30pm
Tomorrow:
Al Gharafa vs Al Kharaitiyat 06:15pm
Muaither vs Al Khor 08:30pm
Al Wakrah vs Qatar SC 08:30pm
