Al Saad team captain Saad Abdulrahman Ali (left) and Rayyan skipper Yassen Musa hold the Emir Cup trophy after a pre-match press conference at St Regis Hotel in Doha yesterday. The final will take place at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall at 6:00pm today. PICTURES: SHAIVAL DALAL
DOHA: Qatar National League champions Al Sadd are eyeing their second major catch of the season in the Emir Cup final against the might of Al Rayyan today but winning the title clash will be decided by the team that makes fewer mistakes, star Saad Abdulrahman said yesterday.
Basketball giants Al Rayyan are also seeking second win of the season following their Heir Apparent Cup win last month in what will be a repeat of last year’s final which was won by Al Sadd.
“Eventually it is going to come down to the team that makes the fewer mistakes,” Al Sadd shooting guard Abdulrahman said ahead of today’s title clash Al Gharafa Indoor Hall.
“The team that is going to make the least number of mistakes is going to win. If you are making a lot of mistakes, then you have no chance (against Al Rayyan),” the 25-year-old Qatar national team player said.
“That’s the message to my team,” he added.
“Mistakes could be a lot of things. Mistakes could be strategy, it could be guys being over emotional. It could be missed assignments, but we have our game-plan intact. Most importantly it is just another game. We don’t need to make it bigger than it already is,” Abdulrahman said.
The 6’ 4” shooter said Al Sadd camp is eager to erase the memory of getting eliminated in last month’s Heir Apparent Cup.
“We were eliminated in the Heir Apparent Cup early. So tomorrow is redemption (time). We have to show that winning the league was not a fluke ... we must win,” Abdulrahman said.
“Losing the semi-finals of the Heir Apparent was a big disappointment for us. We were physically tired in the Heir Apparent Cup. But since then we have regrouped in the Emir Cup. We have got some players who are playing very well together. If we win tomorrow, it will be a great season. If we don’t win tomorrow it is going to be an okay season,” he explained.
“Guys understand that we lost in the Heir Apparent Cup. Worst thing is winning the league and then getting eliminated in the Heir Apparent Cup after such a great high. That left a bad taste in our mouth. We must redeem ourselves,” Abdulrahman said.
Al Rayyan coach Brian Rowsom said today’s final would decide the giants of the season.
“I call this the ‘Championship of Qatar’. They won the league, we won the Heir Apparent Cup. This is the tiebreaker,” Rowsom said.
“So if we win, then it is going to be very successful season for us. We won the Heir Apparent Cup (last month) for the first time in four years. So we want to win tomorrow,” he added.
“We’re excited and we’re ready. Playing on Tuesday has given us an advantage because we did not have a lot of time off. This gives us the momentum going into tomorrow’s match,” the Al Rayyan coach said.
“Yes, we do (have weaknesses). I see them every day (smiles). We don’t want to tell about this every day,” Rowsom said.
“Al Sadd also have weaknesses and I have been thinking about those. That’s why I saw their videos to find more weaknesses,” he added.
Rowsom said Al Rayyan had an edge over the defending champions.
“Something that pleases me is that we don’t panic no matter what the situation is,” Rowsom explained.
“We have an experienced team so if we are not playing, we can come together and regroup. Hopefully we can come out and play better. If we are losing in a game then we always give ourselves the chance to win. In a game like this, there’s going to be a lot of highs and lows,” he said.
Al Sadd coach Dejan Tomic urged his team players to savour the moment of playing the final.
“This is a big game. Every time I tell the players - ‘guys enjoy the game. Don’t allow the pressure of the game become greater than the pleasure of the game. This game you will not play every day. So enjoy. And do what we did the whole season’. This is my way of helping them release pressure,” Tomic said.
“Every game is a different story. So that’s all I say to them. We have to treat this game the normal way,” Tomic added.
Tomic said ‘small things’ would make the difference in the final.
“Little things will decide big games every time. The desire and passion is always the key,” Tomic said. “Tomorrow I don’t need to motivate the players in any additional way.
“They will be highly motivated. We will try control them or limit their efficiency. We know each other well. I don’t expect surprise tactics in the final,” he said.
In the semi-finals, Al Sadd beat Al Arabi whereas Al Rayyan crushed Eljaish on way to the final. THE PENINSULA
