Al Sadd eye ninth consecutive win in QSL

Sports Reporter/Doha

Qatar Stars League (QSL) points leaders Al Sadd  will be eyeing their ninth successive win today  when they travel to Al Gharafa who will be playing under a new coach.

Two days ago, Al Gharafa management sacked coach Paulo Silas for indifferent results and have replaced the Brazilian with Tunisian abib Sadek.

Al Sadd - who have looked invincible this season - will be looking to continue their fine form when they arrive at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium.

However, it will be a story of a different kind in the rival camp where Al Gharafa will be looking to erase the memory of a 5-1 drubbing last week.

That result prompted the Al Gharafa management to fire Silas, the man who guided them to a surprise Emir Cup win in May this year.

Also today, El Jaish will take on Al Kharaitiyat with hopes of a win after their sluggish performance against Al Wakra last week. That eighth round match ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the last match on today, Al Khor will welcome Al Sailiyah for their ninth-round clash.

Tomorrow, Al Wakra will host Al Rayyan, a team very much in form at this of QSL. Al Rayyan hammered Al Gharafa last week, sealing their second successive win.

Also tomorrow, Qatar SC tackle Umm Salal hoping to revive the form that helped them to an impressive 3-1 win against Al Sailiyah last week.

Al Arabi - the only side without a win this season - will host the defending champions Lekhwiya at Grand Hamad Stadium tomorrow.

Lekhwiya - coached by Eric Gerets - are in third place behind Al Sadd and Al Rayyan on the QSL points table.

Meanwhile Qatar will field four teams in the Asian Champions League this year, Hani Taleb Ballan, vice CEO of the Qatar Stars League said yesterday. The four Qatar teams participating in the QFC Champions League 2013 are: Lekhwiya, El Jaish, Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa.

Ballan told www.qsl.com.qa, “This achievement is thanks to everyone’s collective efforts, it highlights the hard work the Clubs and the QSL are producing. We must also thank HE Sheikh Hamad bin Ahmed Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani, President of the QSL, the Club Officials and all members of the Executive Committee. However, after winning four seats in the AFC Champions League 2013, it doesn’t mean we can relax.”

Ballan said the Qatar clubs will now have to work hard to justify the AFC decision.

“Everyone now has additional responsibilities and the Clubs are called upon to prove themselves by raising the technical level. Each Club is required to take advantage of the notes that have been given to them so they can continually improve because with ever changing trends and newly developed technology, there is always room for improvement. We must maintain these results and we can only do this by aiming for constant improvement and upgrading the technical level.”

Ballan continued: “The decision has been made by passing through three stages, firstly it was discussed by the Professional Football Committee, secondly a meeting was held by the Competitions Committee and then finally the Executive Committee sat together to finalise the results.”