Al Wakrah coach Jose Mauricio and (right) Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi speak during a pre-match press conference yesterday. PICTURES: Mamdouh
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar Stars League (QSL) champions Lekhwiya will be eyeing full points against Al Wakrah today when the two sides clash in a round 11 match at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Experienced coach Djamel Belmadi said yesterday that sixth-placed Lekhwiya need to rack up wins to close the gap against the top sides.
“We lost enough points and we are looking to get the three points from this game,” Belmadi said during a pre-match press conference yesterday.
“We lost too many points for different reasons. We are now looking to get consecutive wins.”
Although brimming with confidence following a resounding 4-2 win against former champions Al Sadd last week, Belmadi said he won’t be taking Al Wakrah lightly on home soil.
“Al Wakrah are a team that have always had good performances against strong teams,” the former Qatar national team coach said.
“They may not have won those matches but they did well in them. We are preparing ourselves to face a difficult team. For five years I have been playing against them, it has always been a tough game,” Belmadi pointed out.
The Lekhwiya coach refused to speculate on the starting lineup, saying his entire squad is up for selection.
“Most of the players will be available. I have a couple of them who are sick but they are in contention for the match,” Belmadi said.
Belmadi downplayed his side’s win over Al Sadd, suggesting Lekhwiya are used to playing quality football against top sides.
“We don’t want people to think that we have extra confidence because we beat Al Sadd,” Belmadi explained.
“At Lekhwiya we are used to beating big clubs like Al Sadd. It’s something that we have been doing all along. So while it was a happy moment for the team, it was something that is expected from a team like Lekhwiya,” he said.
Belmadi said the round 10 win against Al Sadd was a case of his side showing commitment on the pitch.
“We were all really involved in the game against Al Sadd. Even the players on the bench were wishing that they could participate,” he revealed. “It’s a good opportunity to say that I am glad that I have my full squad back with me. And as we can see that the level of the team is completely different.
“It’s not that the players before were not good enough. But when you have all the key players back, it’s a different matter altogether. Now we are happy that we have the full squad and are looking for more wins. And thank God that we don’t have the international break till March,” Belmadi said with a smile.
Al Wakrah coach Jose Mauricio struck a cautious note when asked about today’s clash.
“The game will be difficult. Lekhwiya are the defending champions and they have good players,” Mauricio said yesterday.
“Lekhwiya have many players in national teams. The game is difficult but we have the ambition to win against a team of Lekhwiya’s stature,” he added.
Last week’s 1-1 draw against Umm Salal saw Al Wakrah slip to 9th spot in the points race and Mauricio is understandably unhappy.
“Umm Salal is a team that’s in the top 4 and we did well against them,” Mauricio said. “But we lost points against Umm Salal at the end of the game. Till then we had the game in our hands but we didn’t expect to make those mistakes right at the end,” he said ruefully.
“What happened against Umm Salal has happened to us before. We have lost points like this. During a lot of games, we have deserved more points. But at the end of the games, we made certain mistakes which cost us,” Mauricio said.
Mauricio said his team will stick to their game plan of playing with confidence. “We always enter a game to win and we have confidence that we can beat any team. All teams have strengths and weaknesses and so do we,” he said.
“We have to use our strengths to beat the other teams. And we don’t give up against any team. We are playing against a good team and we are looking to play well. Our players are preparing well and so we know that they are ready. What we need now is to have the full team during the game and also to try to avoid individual mistakes in defence,” he warned his players.
“We have a good atmosphere in the dressing room and that gives the players more motivation to play games better. We could have lacked a little bit of motivation going into the game against Mesaimeer but for this match, there’s no issue at all,” Mauricio said.
The game will kick off at 4pm at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa stadium.
