Al Sadd coach Hussein Ammouta (centre) during the AFC Champions League pre-match press conference held yesterday. Picture: Anas Khalid.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar’s Al Sadd are enjoying a strong outing in their 2015 AFC Champions League campaign. They are currently top of their group and will be looking to secure their spot in the Round of 16 with victory over Foolad today.
Sadd will have the home advantage going into this match and that will help boost the confidence of the players. The 2011 ACL champions though will be without their midfielders Talal Al Bloushi and Jasser Yehia.
Both will be absent due to injury as Sadd look to pick up the three points that ensure they take one of the two places in the next phase on offer from Group C, where they sit in top spot ahead of Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia by virtue of a better head-to-head record.
Al Sadd go into the game off the back of a 2-0 win over Al Shamal on Thursday that secured them second place in the Qatar Stars League, ensuring qualification for the AFC Champions League for next season. “It is an important match for us and we should try our best to take advantage of playing the match at home,” said coach Hussein Ammouta.
“We should concentrate and our players should avoid mistakes in order to win the match and get the important points.
“We will be missing some players which will put some pressure on us but we have good replacements. We studied our opponents very well and we are ready to give a strong performance and get the result that we are looking for.”
Foolad are in fourth place in the group but are only four points behind Al Sadd and victory would pull the Iranian side back into contention for a place in the next phase of the competition.
Midfielder Mohsen Mosalman will be available for selection after missing the previous game due to suspension and coach Dragan Skokic knows his team need to push hard for their second win of the campaign.
“This match is the most important match for us in the competition so far,” he said. “Therefore, we will be fighting to win in order to maintain our chances to qualify to the knockout stage.
“We respect our opponents who have good players including Khalfan Ibrahim. We have no option but to win the match tomorrow. In football nothing is impossible which means that we will push hard in order to get the three points.”
