(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatari giants Al Duhail and the UAE's Shabab Al Ahli will face off at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai today at 7.30pm in the first edition of Qatar-UAE Super Shield. The two heavyweight teams are competing in for Duhail as Al Duhail were last season's Qatar Stars League champions and Shabab Al Ahli were UAE League winners.
Both Al Duhail and Shabab will be keen to win the Super Shield and they have the capabilities, so the match promises to be strong. Al Duhail will be gunning for the title to compensate for what they have lost this season by being behind in the league, occupying sixth place with 25 points with only three more rounds remaining.
Al Duhail will take the field against Shabab Al Ahli with great morale having achieved a valuable 3-1 win over arch-rivals Al Sadd in the league in Week 20. The result gave The Red Knights players a morale boost ahead of their encounter against Shabab Al Ahli.
Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier will rely mainly on his players, who played the last match against Al Sadd, namely Almoez Ali, Michael Olunga, Sultan Al Breik, Ismail Mohamed, Karim Boudiaf, Ibrahima Diallo and others.
On the other hand, Shabab Al Ahli's Serbian coach Marko Nikolic depends chiefly on his distinguished players as they target title.
Duhail's coach Christophe Galtier said his team is determined to win the title.“This is the first edition of the newly-created tournament, which will make us work with all our strength and seriousness in order to win the first title,” the Frenchman said on Friday.
“It is a new challenge for us, especially since we are going through a difficult season. We know that we will face an excellent team that has good players. We have followed them in a number of matches and we have seen the extent of their strength. The have a good offensive line, which requires us to close the spaces in front of their movements to prevent them from threatening our goal.“
Regarding the importance of the tournament, Galtier said:“The tournament is very important and will serve as a challenge for all clubs in Qatar and the UAE. If we succeed in winning this first edition, we will write the team's name in history, which is what I told the team's players.”
MENAFN12042024000067011011ID1108089539
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.