Al Arabi coach Luka Bonacic hopes his team will bounce back after a humiliating 1-10 thrashing from Al Sadd last week. Arabi will take on Al Kharaitiyat today in their Week 3 QNB Stars League match. “Following our big loss to Al Sadd, our morale was not that down. Normally, any team would have been demoralised. 10-1 is not a normal result. Everyone was responsible for that,” said Bonacic.
“But I told my players that Al Sadd is a closed chapter. We had a few days for recovery. If we beat Al Kharaitiyat, then we will have six points. You will see a different Al Arabi in this game,” he added.
“We will fight and we will give our 100 per cent. At the same time, we will be wary of Al Khor as they will be keen to win having lost both matches. Football is pressure. Sometimes, results are good for you. Sometimes, they are bad for you. What happened against Al Sadd was a disaster. In a way, it is good it happened at the start of the season,” the Arabi coach noted.
Al Kharaitiyat coach Nassif al-Bayawi was hoping to get lucky against Arabi, after losing both their matches and lie bottom of the table with Al Khor.
“We are coming off two defeats, so we are very careful as we go into the Al Arabi match. Against Al Sadd in the first match, we were very much in the game, but conceded goals in quick succession. That did us in. In the last game against Al Shahania, we were unlucky not to have scored despite creating at least four clear chances. We committed just one mistake and we lost the match. We had many positives to take from both these matches,” he said.
“I hope we will be lucky against Al Arabi, a big team with rich history, tradition and ardent fans. We are expecting a strong reaction from them, following their big loss to Al Sadd. They will do everything they can to win,” al-Bayawi added.
In another match today, Al Khor will take on Al Shahania. Shahania coach Jose Murcia said his team’s aim is to get three points. “It is going to be a difficult game. Al Khor have experience playing in the top flight. We are improving step by step. I am sure it will be a close game. Our target is to give our 100 per cent in all games. We did that in our first match against Al Duhail too. We hope to keep getting good results. We are working more on our game. We aim three points against Al Khor,” Murcia said.
