Al Gharafa are gearing up for their Qatar Cup semi-final against this season’s QNB Stars League champions Al Duhail at Al Sadd Stadium today.
The Cheetahs are ambitious and are preparing for the game in earnest.
Al Gharafa’s Portuguese midfielder Diogo Amado spoke about various topics, including today’s match, in an interview.
Excerpts:

What’re your impressions of the Qatar Cup?
We’ve huge ambitions for this precious cup as we’re very excited and looking forward to get the best results. It’s a matter of two games to work on. We’ll try to build on our QSL Cup triumph this season as well as a series of positive results that have helped us finish fourth in the league.

What’re your ambitions in this tournament?
As I mentioned, there’s no second chance as it’s a knockout competition. The winners will advance and losers will be out. We’ll do our best to win the Qatar Cup.

What’re Al Gharafa’s chances in this tournament?
We’re aware that it’s a difficult tournament and all other teams are the best in the QNB Stars League with lots of experience in cup tournaments.

How about your semi-final against Al Duhail?
They’re the league champions with no defeats whatsoever this season and they’ve prominent players in their ranks. However, we’ve full confidence in our potential. We’ll enter the match with the determination to win and qualify for the final.

Will you be able to compensate for your loss to Al Duhail in the second phase of QNB Stars League?
Different circumstances, indeed. The league fixtures are very much different than the cup games. In the league’s first phase, the match ended in a draw with a strong performance from our side. I would like to stress the fact that cup matches have special atmosphere and circumstances.

How do you look forward to your Qatar Cup debut?
I’m so proud to represent Al Gharafa, a big club with rich history of achievements and successes. I’ll put in my best to help my side in the Qatar Cup as I did in the QNB Stars League.

Which two teams do you think will reach the final?
I’m focusing on Al Gharafa and how to help the team get good results, particularly in the semifinal against Al Duhail.

How do you see Al Gharafa’s league campaign this season?
The start wasn’t that good for us, nevertheless our performance improved. Everyone is very happy after finishing among the top four teams in the QNB Stars League. Overall, the season was good for us.

Are you happy with what you’ve achieved?
When you represent a big team such as Al Gharafa, you’ll always have bigger ambitions. We’re happy with our fourth-place finish, which we hadn’t done for a long time. I believe it’s a positive sign.

How do you assess your season with Al Gharafa?
I can say that I’m satisfied with this season. I’ve learnt that I was one of the most active players in terms of the number of minutes and matches in the league and that’s a great pleasure. I’m giving my everything to the team and I’m proud of that. When the team wanted me to play in defence, I did that even though I hadn’t done it before. I worked really hard.

Finally, what you would like to say?
I would like to tell Al Gharafa fans that we, players, are trying to put up our best on the field in all games. We need your support always and I would like to invite you to come and support us in the Qatar Cup and Emir Cup.(QSL)