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| GEARING UP: Al Sadd players seen during a training session ahead of their opening match against Al Arabi in the Qatar Stars League starting today. PICTURE: Jayaram |
Asian Champions Al Sadd will take on Al Arabi in the opening match of the Qatar Stars League today at their home ground Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The match starts at 6pm.
Later in the evening, Al Khor will meet Al Khartiyat at Al Khor, while El Jaish will clash with Umm Salal at Qatar Sports Club. Both these matches are scheduled to start at 8pm.
Al Sadd, who won the AFC Champions League in December 2011 under Jorge Fossati, failed to add any silverware to their cabinet last season.
However, they started this year on a high by finishing runner-up in the Sheikh Jassim Cup under Moroccan coach Housseine Amouta, who was the team’s technical director last season. They lost the title clash to Al Rayyan 0-1.
The team has been boosted with the inclusion of former Real Madrid legend Raul. In May this year, Raul signed a one-year deal with Al Sadd. “I am happy to be playing in Qatar. It is a new experience but a challenging one. I think there is fierce competition among the teams. There are some high quality players and I am looking forward to competing against them,” said the former Schalke 04 player on Wednesday.
“Every team stands a chance to win the title. What we have to do is ensure that we do well in our matches and get off to a good start. I joined Al Sadd because of the reputation of this great club.
“I have enjoyed watching their old matches. Al Sadd won the Asian title last year and then finished third in the FIFA World Club Cup. We will try to win all titles this season,” he added.
Coach Amouta too was of the view that Raul can play a key role in the team’s success this season. “I’m sure Raul’s presence will help even me. He’s a legendary player. Even at 35, he can be a great asset for any team. His experience will be a big boost, particularly for the younger players who can look up to him as a role model in terms of commitment and discipline,” he said.
Besides Raul, Al Sadd have beefed up their arsenal with the inclusion of Nadir Belhadj (Algeria), Lee Jung-Soo (South Korea) and Mamadou Niang (Senegal).
Arabi on the other hand are also looking for redemption after finishing a disappointing ninth in the league last season. Their Brazilian striker Wanderley Santos, who played an important role in their Sheikh Jassim Cup triumph last season, sustained an injury in the League early on and was forced out of the season.
This year, the team managed to rope in new overseas recruits and it will be interesting to see how they perform. Moroccan captain Houssine Kharja, Youssef Hadji (also from Morocco), Bare (Brazil) and Mathew Spiranovich (Australian international) are the ones the team will be heavily banking on.
“It’s a big challenge. The QSL is a tough competition. I want everyone to work collectively for the betterment of the team,” said team’s French coach Pierre Lechantre.
Hadji was confident that his team can surprise their rivals this season.
“We started well last season but didn’t finish that great. This year we are ready to surprise our rivals. I came to Al Arabi knowing this side can do well. It is a difficult task to beat other teams but we have the players and the courage needed to win,” said Hadji.
“We have good defense and attackers. We can do well. We have a great atmosphere in our team and I think that will help us do well,” he added.
Karim Ziani of El Jaish, whose team will be meeting Umm Salal in their opener, was also confident of his team bettering their performance this season. Last year, El Jaish finished second behind champions Lekhwiya. “We want to go all the way this time. We did well last year and this season we want to do even better. QSL is very competitive nowadays. There are a lot of tough teams and some quality players. It won’t be easy to win the title.”
“But we have a good set-up. We can do well too,” he added. “We are very confident of doing well,” said Ziani.
There will be pre-match entertainment for the families and fans. Before kick-off and at half time, fans can enjoy the stand up comedy of Mississippi Ibrahem.