(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The Peninsula
Doha: Al Arabi, fourth in the QNB Stars League (QSL) standings, are targeting full points as they meet Al Shamal at their home turf today, with coach Younes Ali terming it an important match.
While 'The Dream Team' will enter the match against Al Shamal as favourites, Ali dubbed the promoted side“difficult opponents”.
“All matches are important to us, regardless of the opponents, and I always talk to the players that every upcoming confrontation is difficult. Al Shamal are difficult opponents, they offer good football and high levels,” Al Arabi coach told a pre-match press conference yesterday.
“Al Shamal have good players and we have to appear better than the previous match before the break and we must be fully focused throughout the 90 minutes in order to get the three points,” Ali said before adding the his ranks are ready for the match.
“The preparations were good in the absence of international players. During our participation in the Ooredoo Cup, we were keen to push the largest group of players to raise the physical rate, especially players who did not play much in the last period. We are well prepared for the Al Shamal match and hope to achieve a positive result,” he said.
Al Shamal, who returned to the First Division after six seasons, are ninth in the standings with four points (one victory, one draw and three defeats).
Al Shamal coach Hicham Jadrane admitted today's match against Al Arabi is a tough challenge for his side.
“Al Arabi are one of the best teams this season. Al Arabi have presented good levels and have not conceded goals this season except against Al Sadd and Al Duhail, which underlines that we are facing a tough team,” said Jadrane but warned his side has the potential of pulling off an upset like they did to Qatar SC last month.
“We are aware of the difficulty of the task against Al Arabi, but that does not mean we won't be aiming for a positive result. We are on the right path and our goal is to always continue to develop."
Today's other matches will see Al Sailiya visiting Al Wakrah while Qatar SC will meet Umm Salal at Al Arabi Stadium.
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