Al Gharafa head coach Christian Gourcuff (right) and team’s star player Wesley Sneijder during a pre-match press conference, yesterday.
Doha: After holding an in-form Al Sadd to a 1-1 draw in their previous match, Al Gharafa are hoping to secure full points against Al Ahli in the fourth round of QNB Stars League (QSL) at Khalifa International Stadium today.
Al Gharafa, who suffered a shock 3-1 defeat to Qatar SC in their first clash of QSL, are on seventh in the standings with four points, and their head coach Christian Gourcuff is aiming for full points against Al Ahli.
“We put a good show for a draw against Al Sadd and the team is targeting full points against Al Ahli. The short break has helped the players recover after tough Al Sadd game,” the head coach said at a pre-match press conference yesterday.
Gourcuff said he will continue to test youngsters of the team, hoping they will excel in today’s match.
“We’re trying to give more opportunities to our young players. They must make their presence felt on the pitch. We’re trying to strike a balance, so they get along well with the seniors,” he said.
Al Gharafa star Wesley Sneijder, who accompanied Gourcuff in press conference, said he will put the friendship aside when he will face Al Ahli’s Nigel de Jong - his former team-mate at Ajax Amsterdam and the Dutch national side.
“Nigel de Jong and I are very good friends. But then, a game is a game. Of course, we won’t kick each other! I am playing for three points, he is also playing for three points. This is not the first time that we are playing against each other. We have faced off in Italy before. It’s always a special feeling playing against him,” he said.
Sneijder also expressed satisfaction on Al Gharafa’s performance so far in the season.
“We had a good result from the Al Sadd game and we need three points from this match. We’re improving after every game. I’m happy with the overall level and quality of football in Qatar. I’ll keep giving my 100 percent.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli coach Milan Macala hoped his team will avoid mistakes of the previous matches in what he described as a tough game.
“We’re still at the beginning of the league and are working to equip the team well in every game. We’ve a very tough game this week against Al Gharafa, who played a very strong match against Al Sadd in the previous round,” he said.“We’ll miss some players in this game too. We were adversely affected by the absence of Khalil Sharif and Mohammed Reza in the last match that we lost 1-4 to Umm Salal. They will return against Al Gharafa.
“We’re trying hard to correct our mistakes. The QNB Stars League is only three games old and it’s still early to assess. We play every game with different combinations as we haven’t got the services of all players together, due to injuries and suspensions,” he added.
“Against Umm Salal, we played the first 15 minutes well, but the problem was the mistakes made by the defence. If you go 0-2 down after 30 minutes due to your own mistakes, you can’t do much in a game,” the coach said.
In other match today, Al Sailiya will take on Al Khor at the same venue.
