Al Duhail officials pose for a photograph with injured forward Ismail Mohammed at Hamad Hospital in Doha yesterday.
DOHA: Football giants Al Duhail on Sunday got off to a winning start in the regular season by crushing newly promoted Al Shahaniya but the victory came at a huge cost for the QNB Stars League (QSL) title holders.
During the course of their 3-0 win at the Khalifa International Stadium, Al Duhail’s forward Ismail Mohamad suffered an injury which will probably keep him out of the action for a while.
It was revealed that Mohammed, a national team player, sustained a double fracture in his right leg after a reckless tackle during Sunday’s match.
This is a huge blow for Al Duhail, who are already missing out on two key players, attacking midfielders Yousef Msakni and Karim Boudiaf.
Al Duhail’s regular skipper Msakni suffered an injury during the last match of the previous QSL Season and it also cost him a place on the Tunisian squad that played at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Boudiaf’s injury occurred during the Sheikh Jassim Cup final against Al Rayyan last week.
The injury concerns make Al Duhail’s new coach Nabil Maaloul’s task more challenging at the beginning of the season but he hopes there are enough replacement options within the team’s ranks in the absence of the injured players.
“The injury of Ismail is very painful for us as he is an important player in the team,” new coach Maaloul said after the win.
“Before him we lost Boudiaf who is also an important player for us and I wish them a quick recovery,” the Tunisian added.
“I expect the return of Karim soon but the return of Ismail will be delayed due to the seriousness of the injury and it is now up to the doctors. But thank God the team has a number of solutions and the alternatives so we can replace all the absences,” the Tunisian tactician said during a post-match press conference.
The Qatari champions are also getting ready for their AFC Champions League quarter-final clash against Iran’s Persepolis and the new coach hopes Boudiaf will make a complete recovery ahead of the second leg clash which will take place in Tehran, Iran next month.
“We hope Karim will return before the second leg against Persepolis and we are looking for solutions in the coming days. We have distinguished players, within the team and with the Olympic team,” said Maaloul
Speaking of the opening win of the season, Maaloul said: “Thank God on this victory. Before the match I spoke to the players about the importance of an early win but the victory was delayed until the second half which made our task a bit difficult.”
He added: “There was some dissatisfaction about certain incidents during the match but in return we have identified some areas which we will work on developing in the upcoming weeks.”
“If we were able to score two or three early goals, that would have given us the opportunity to play comfortably, but we could not put the players under pressure. We made certain changes in the second half and those worked for us. We managed to win and it was possible to end the game with a bigger gap,” Maaloul said after his first win of the season.
Meanwhile, Al Shahaniya coach Jose Murcia Gonzalez said he is satisfied with the team’s efforts despite the 3-0 loss against the top team of Qatar.
“The game saw many events, including the loss of two penalties in the first half and the expulsion of our player, Nader Awad in the beginning of the second half. It was difficult to play with 10 players in front of the League champions and one of the best teams in the league,” Gonzalez said after the match.
