Al Arabi coach Younes Ali
Al Arabi coach Younes Ali said his team’s preparations have been good and that they were ready to face Umm Salal in the Ooredoo Cup semi-final but they will need to be fully focused to ensure a final berth. The two teams will meet in the last four clash at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium today at 9.45pm.
Speaking to the media on the pre-match eve, Ali said, “Umm Salal are an organised team which includes distinguished players and also seeks to win and reach the final. While Al Arabi will have absences with some of our international players joining their national teams and some players nursing injuries but we have a wonderful group of players and are ready for the next match. We look forward to achieving victory and reaching the final.”
He added: “Qualifying for the final requires full concentration and throughout the 90 minutes as these are knock-out matches where a loss means exit. Whoever is more focused will achieve victory and make the final.
“We think about each match separately and Ooredoo Cup confrontations are different from the league. We will strive to reach the final but we have a difficult competitor and we will need to do our best to win,” he concluded.
Meanwhile Al Arabi player Mohamed Salal Elneel stressed on the difficulty of the match against Umm Salal.
“We certainly respect the ambitions of Umm Salal and I do not think that our task will be easy regardless of the competitor’s position on the league rankings table which is not a measure for evaluating their performance because all teams face Al Arabi with greater focus and there is no easy match in football,” he said. “The match will be a good opportunity for some players (who did not play much in the league) to play in an important match such as the semi-finals of the Ooredoo Cup and help the team to reach the final,” he stressed.
No room for mistakes: Umm Salal coach El Karkouri
Umm Salal coach Talal El Karkouri said his team has no room for mistakes in the semi-final against Al Arabi. He said: “The match will be strong and difficult, because the opponents are a team with great potential in addition to the availability of the best foreign and local professionals, as well as distinguished substitutes.
“It will be a big match because each team seeks to win, reach the final and win the cup. There’s no room for mistakes and the team that is better, more focused, exploits opportunities and makes fewer mistakes will win.”
He added: “We must play the match with great focus and we will work to take advantage of all opportunities to translate it into our favour. We will also develop the appropriate squad and plan with which we will face The Dream Team.
“All the players of the team realise the importance of the match, in addition to their desire to win and reach the final, because it is a good opportunity, and we must enter with strength and focus in order to achieve what is required and reach the final,” said El Karkouri.
