Al Arabi goalkeeper Rajab Hamza has been a permanent fixture for his team for a long time. With just three matches left in the Qatar Stars League, he is relishing the prospect of facing Al Rayyan today, he told QSL.com.qa.
Obviously you are one of the more experienced members of the team, you have been here now for 7 years. Please describe the atmosphere and what makes this game special.
People call this game a derby, personally I know that in this derby it doesn’t matter what position they are or where we are, and when the game comes around we know how important this clash is to us and the fans.
For us we need the points and Rayyan also need the points so this will be an important derby. Most of the time in this fixture we see a lot of goals, but I think this year it will be different.
In the first half of the season we just sneaked it and won 1:0 so things change, players, coaches, officials, weather conditions but the pressure of the game doesn’t change. I think the fans demand this level of pressure because of the history between both clubs.
What has been your best derby experience against Rayyan?
I think I would have to say the last game because it was just a few months back, so its fresh in my memory but I also enjoyed this game because my team and I managed to keep a clean sheet.
I would like to repeat this, for me it is better score just one or two but not concede because that is my job, not to concede.
Another thing I want to add is that not everybody can play the derby games, there are often good players with quality but they get lost on the pitch and struggle to make an impact. Mentally they are not ready and they just go quiet.
On the other hand some players always play better in the Derby, it doesn’t matter how good they are, they rise to the occasion.
I think our team has a lot of mentally strong players and so we are ready for this kind of game, we played against the likes of Al Sadd, Lekhwiya, El Jaish and we did well.
What was your worst derby experience?
Two games a few years back, we lost 5:0 in one and more recently we played and lost 4:0 so those games are still with me, they are not easy to forget!
In the last derby I didn’t concede a single goal and that is something all goal keepers in a derby want, it’s more special.
What do you think of the current Rayyan team compared to when you played them in the first half of the season?
This will make a big difference this weekend because Rayyan have changed a lot, they now have a nice mix of young players and some experienced foreign players. For Al Arabi I think we too have some good players such as Karim Ziani but he can’t play because he will be suspended.
But we have Wanderly, Bruno and Orestes Júnior Alves, so we will use them. However Rayyan showed against Lekhwiya in round 23 just how good they are becoming, they made things very difficult for the league leaders.
At the beginning of the season Al Arabi were struggling but now you are doing well, what changed?
I think it is a mixture of reasons, sometimes we have too many injuries, sometimes we lost our concentration in games, sometimes we underestimated our opponents, sometimes the referee made the wrong decision but I think if you look closely you can see that we have started to come back together and work as a group, so this helps us a lot. Plus the new coach has identified some things and brought some new ideas and energy with him.
Sometimes in football if you lose a game that doesn’t necessarily mean you are a bad side, perhaps there wasn’t the correct psychological preparation needed and that’s why you lose, football can be difficult and at other times, very easy.
The games against Muaither, Al Ahli and Kharaitiyat, we just didn’t go into the game with the correct attitude but I think now we have corrected that.
Do you still think you can finish in the top four and qualify for the Qatar Cup?
We have just three games so it will be very difficult. Rayyan need to win to stay in the league and we need to win to get into the top four so the game will be more difficult for us as they have the better motivation.
I hope we can be in the top 4 because it has been a long time since we have done that so let’s see if we can make the difference.
Explain the relationship between you and your goal keeping coach.
He knows me better than I know myself, he knows when I am not ready to play, he knows what kind of training to give me during training or just before the game, he knows everything and I really trust and respect him.
You know, off the pitch he is a really fun guy but during training he is very serious, like a father. We have a very close relationship and he has always supported me, outside the stadium we are good friends but on the pitch we are professional and I enjoy working that way.
And as any really good friend he is honest with me which is what I value, he gives me plenty of confidence and I really appreciate that. I know him for more than 8 years now.
To be a goal keep you have to be a little bit crazy but also clever and of course brave. For me sometimes the keeper can be the match winner for the team, because I know from experience that from the first save that you make, you team gain in confidence. For the last save of the game, you help your team win, so the position of goal keeper is not an easy position and also it is a very important position. If you don’t have a good keeper then you don’t have a good team.
What do you think the score will be this Friday?
We won our last game in the Qatar Stars League and they lost against Lekhwiya so they will want to get back to winning ways, so it’s difficult to predict. However I think we can win this game.