(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Rizwan Rehmat I The Peninsula
DOHA: Al Duhail coach Djamel Belmadi celebrated his team's resounding 6-1 win over Al Gharafa in Qatar Cup semi-final on Sunday by saying his boys had covered half the distance in winning the coveted title.
Feared striker Nam Tae-hee struck a hat-trick as Al Duhail smashed six goals in the second half against Wesley Sneijder-captained Al Gharafa who did not concede a goal in the first half.
Al Duhail will now face defending champions Al Sadd in the final on Friday.
'We have achieved 50 percent of what was required of us to win this title, Belmadi said.
'We still have to go for the remaining 50 percent of the distance to win the trophy. And yes, we want to win this tournament, the highly successful Algerian added.
'I have told the players that we will face a strong team (in Al Sadd) in the final. But first I want to congratulate the players who have played a big game against Al Gharafa, he added.
'I want the players to continue winning. In this game we arranged our cards differently for the two halves. There was a defensive performance by Al Gharafa in the first half and thank God we succeeded in scoring those goals and we won handsomely, Belmadi said.
'Al Gharafa played with a plan in which they pressed us and managed to block our players. However, we made some changes in the second half.
'I told the players that Al Gharafa will not be able to continue their pressure tactics because they have exhausted their energies. In the second half, when the pitch was completely opened to our players, we mounted great pressure on their backline and found the net on six occasions, Belmadi said.
'For us, the challenge is to win titles, not to lose, so we're going to get into our next game to win the title, Belmadi said.
'We have to thank the players who have shown a good level. I cannot talk about Youssef El Arabi after every game and everyone knows about his high performance. He is the team leader, but we have to talk about the players who made their efforts in the match like Al Moez and Ismael. They also participated well in the match and everybody knows the value and place of Yusuf Al Masakni, Belmadi said.
The popular Al Duhail coach said the 6-1 result left him surprised.
'I did not expect the big result of the game though I expected my team to win this game, Belmadi said.
'During the season we played a lot of games - in Qatar and around Asia. We have done extremely well and we want to continue in this same way, he added.
'We are ready to play any team because we know that we are going to have a busy month of games because of our participation in the AFC Champions League and the Emir Cup.
'This is the new challenge for us at the club - to remain unbeaten. This is the challenge for me, the players, the club's administrative staff and every member of the team since we work as a family, Bemladi said.
Al Duhail are unbeaten in their AFC Champions League campaign this season, scoring five wins in many matches to seal a place in the pre-quarters of the region's top club championship.
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