By Anil John/Doha

 

Hussein Amotta knows a thing or two about football – of course he should, he is the coach of Al Sadd. Journalists, too, claim great understanding and foresight, but watching the game from the press box is smooth sailing any day compared to being in the thick of the battle. This has been the norm always and always will be.

Amotta has been a player for several years, including at Al Sadd, a club which he now coaches, but when journalists tell him that his team have already won the Qatar Stars League by virtue of enjoying a five-point lead with six matches to go, he has to tell them to shut up. Politely, of course. The Moroccan’s motto is quite simple: win the match and the math will take care of itself.

“All the journalists tell me Al Sadd have already won the league. This is not true because there are lots of points to play for,” the Moroccan said ahead of today’s crucial match against Al Rayyan in the Qatar Stars League.

A shock 1-0 loss to El Jaish last week has opened up a small window of opportunity for the chasing pack, chiefly defending champions Lekhwiya, who are looking for their third straight title. A defeat to Al Rayyan today combined with a Lekhwiya victory over uninspiring Al Gharafa will cut Al Sadd’s lead to just two points and could turn the final straight of the QSL into a thrilling mad scramble for national honours.

Amotta is clearly wary of getting caught up in such a situation and is counting on his team’s ability to pull out all the stops against Al Rayyan, their historic rivals in Qatar.

“We don’t have to say much about this game because everyone knows it’s the Classico of the Qatari league,” said Amotta. “The strength of both teams doesn’t give us any hint as to who will win it. We lost three points in the last game and they were important points. Now Al Rayyan are strong but Al Sadd always play well against the strong teams.”

He said the loss to El Jaish rankled and affected the positivity in the team. “Of course the result gave us a bad atmosphere but with the difference in points, we are motivated. We had a meeting after the El Jaish game and everyone agrees we didn’t deserve to lose. Everyone agreed we played well, we just didn’t win. It happens in football. We have quality to come back from this.”

Al Rayyan, who are a whopping 11 points behind Al Sadd and have no chance of winning the title, are keen on top-four finish after their lacklustre start left them with no option but to play catch-up later in the season.

“This will be a great game. We all love to be involved in these sort of games. Last season all the games were good. Even if we won or lost, it was a good game,” said Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre.

“Both sides will be motivated for this game. There will be no problem for that. We will respect Al Sadd but we have nothing to fear.”

Al Sadd failed to make good of several half-chances that came their way against El Jaish, with Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan and Younis Mahmood proving a tad ineffective up front, a deficiency they will have to quickly correct.

Al Rayyan’s confidence, on the other hand, is soaring high after their 7-3 romp over basement team Al Sailiya last week, thanks to a hat-trick from Brazilian striker Nilmar, but Aguirre knows Al Sadd are a different team altogether.

“It’s not important if you win or lose before facing Al Sadd. It’s a special game so we must play very well. Everyone wants to be involved in these games.

“This game is difficult without thinking about any other results. Sadd is in first place and they deserve to be there because they have been the best team this season. It’s a nice change to be involved in a match like this.”

Meanwhile, Lekhwiya star Ahmed Abdel Maqsood made no secret of his side’s determination to take the title fight to the wire.

 “For us all the games will be like cup finals. I think a draw is not good for any team. Both teams are looking for three points so no-one will be happy with the draw. A point wasn’t good enough in the last game (against Al Khor) but thankfully Sadd lost their game,” said Maqsood.

 “Our goal is to take the league down to the final day of the season. All the pressure is on Sadd but if we are not champions this year it will be because of the poor start we had to the season.

 “This is not the first or last time we have dropped points but we are professional and we will forget it. We might be sad for maybe an hour but we don’t have time to be sad about it. If we are going to be sad it will be at the end of the season.”

All 12 teams in the QSL will be in action today, a rare occasion in the local calendar.