Al Sadd beat Al Rayyan 6-2 on penalties after the regular time ended in a 2-2 draw. The Qatar Cup final is the fourth encounter between Al Sadd and Al Duhail this season. While Al Sadd won the season-opening Sheikh Jassim Cup, they lost to Al Duhail in both phases of the QNB Stars League.
The players trained under the watchful eyes of Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira. Meanwhile, left-back Ibrahim Majed, who was out of action from the start of this season following a surgery for cruciate ligament repair, returned to the team’s training.
Al Sadd have the likes of Barcelona great and FIFA World Cup winner Xavi Hernandez of Spain, Algerian ace striker Baghdad Bounedjah, his counterpart and midfielder Jugurtha Hamroun, Iran international defender Morteza Mohammed, Qatar international Hassan Al Haydous, former Villarreal player Akram Afif, Abdulkarim Hassan and Ali Asad. Al Sadd are the holders of Qatar Cup. They beat erstwhile El Jaish 2-1 in last season’s final.
Al Duhail gear up for Qatar Cup final
Al Duhail started preparations for their Qatar Cup final against Al Sadd. Al Duhail reached the final by defeating Al Gharafa 6-1 and target their second title of the season to add to their QNB Stars League triumph.
Algerian coach Djamel Belmadi put his wards through their paces. The only absentee was Tunisian attacking midfielder Youssef Msakni, who sustained a knee injury during their last league match against Al Sailiya and is ruled out for the rest of the season.
Al Duhail are doing well in the AFC Champions League as well. They had become the first team to reach the Round of 16 and also had the distinction of being the only side with an all-win record in the group stage.