Languishing
at the basement of the QNB Stars League, Qatar Sports Club will have to
get their act together soon if they are to stay in the domestic top
flight.
With just one win from seven matches, they will become the
prime candidates for relegation if they don’t notch up a few wins in the
coming few weeks.
They have a great chance today to kick-start their
revival when they take on equally threatened Al Khor in round eight of
the tournament today.
The fact they will be playing on their own home
ground would therefore be a psychological boost for them. A victory
over Al Khor combined with the possibility of Al Markhiya losing to Al
Ahli will help them jump to 10th spot and give them a platform from
where they can proceed further with some fresh focus.
“We badly need a
victory and three points to move up the ladder. This is a good
opportunity to do it, and that too, in front of home fans, Qatar SC
coach Gabriel Calderon told reporters.
“The two QSL Cup fixtures in between the league’s seventh and eighth rounds helped us assess our own strengths and weaknesses.”
One of Qatar Sports Club’s weaknesses has been their poor finishing , which Calderon is keen to solve soon.
“We’ve
a big problem to rectify. Our scoring rate has to be improved. Lack of
finishing is our biggest concern. We only have to score goals. Overall,
our game is good and I’m satisfied with our players’ performance. We
need a good striker to deliver the goods.
“We’ll sorely miss our main
striker Michael Babatunde in this match due to suspension as he had
picked up two yellow cards during the match against Al Rayyan in the
last round. This may be a good chance for other strikers to prove
themselves. I just wish they come good when it matters the most.
“My
players are showing good spirit in training, but that isn’t reflecting
on our results. We’re the side which has lost the most number of games
(six) and conceded the most number of goals (18),” he said.
Al Khor’s new coach Nassif al-Bayawi, meanwhile, is keen to make a good first impression.
“First
of all, I’m no stranger to Qatar football having assisted French coach
Bernard Simondi at Al Kharaitiyat. I’m happy to be back coaching in this
country and I look forward to my first league match, against Qatar SC,
with a lot of hope. We’re definitely looking forward to a positive
result,” he said.
“Qatar SC are the bottom side, but we aren’t taking
them lightly. We’re just above them in the table. We’re coming from
four straight defeats in the league and the players’ morale is very low.
My immediate priority is to boost their morale and, hopefully, you’ll
see a different Al Khor in the future games.”
Fourth-placed Al Sailiya, meanwhile, are hoping to improve further when they take on Al Gharafa today.
“It’ll
be a tough game as Al Gharafa are a highly-unpredictable side. They’ve
exhibited two levels in their game — excellent and medium. In some
matches, they play excellently and in some other they put up average
performances,” said coach Sami Trablesi
“On our part, we’ve three or
four players back from national duties. We’ll try to stay fully focused
and pull off another positive result. Our players are showing
consistency in their performance and we’re approaching each match with
victory in mind.
“The co-operation and team spirit among my wards is
worth mentioning and that reflects on our results. Before the season
began, we had worked a lot on improving our game and that’s now
rewarding us. The team is getting better after every outing,” added
Trablesi whose team have won five of their seven matches and have 15
points.
Al Sailiya’s consistency is a source of worry for Al Gharafa coach Jean Fernandez.
“Al
Sailiya are a well-organised side. Their local as well as professional
players are a good mix. And they’ve perhaps the second-best attack line
in the tournament. We’ve a lot of respect for them,” said Fernandez.
“Al
Sailiya are becoming stronger after every match and we’ve to be really
wary of them. They’ve just entered the top four on the back of some
strong displays.”
Al Gharafa are sixth in the standings and Fernandez is clear that his forwards need to up their game a notch.
“I
expect my players to put a memorable performance. I need more
efficiency from our forwards. We’ve scored only eight goals from seven
matches, so our scoring rate has to be improved. It’s true that we’re in
sixth position in the standings, but we just have to score more and
more goals. Otherwise, it’s difficult to win matches,” he added.
Today’s matches
Al Gharafa vs Al Sailiya, 4pm
Al Markhiya vs Al Ahli 4pm
Qatar SC vs Al Khor 6pm.
Qatar SC coach Gabriel Calderon.