Sadd face Ahli in Amir Cup quarter-finals

Al Sadd Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla at a training session on Friday.

Asian football powerhouse Al Sadd take on Al Ahli in the Amir Cup quarter-finals on Saturday but the defending champions are aiming to go all the way in the country’s most popular tournament. Al Sadd will host Al Ahli in the first last-eight clash at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium but home coach Javi Gracia on Friday said his team are aiming for title glory. “We do not care what will happen in this match against Al Ahli. We are fully committed to taking on Al Ahli but our goal is to win the cup,” Gracia, who replaced coach Xavi a couple of months ago, said during a press conference. Gracia said he is currently giving his entire squad the chance to break a sweat in matches. “We play a match every three days. We do not have much time to prepare satisfactorily so we will resort to the process of player rotation,” Gracia said.   “I trust all of my players that they will provide the required level. We will choose the best squad as we are playing a very important match in the Amir Cup,” he added. “Al Ahli is a good and organized team that plays in a distinctive way. My players know that in cup competitions, making mistakes means you say farewell to the championship. So we will play with caution and try to remain on the pitch with concentration,” the Spaniard said. Al Ahli coach Nebojsa Jovovic said he team will look to redeem themselves from the 8-2 Qatar Stars League defeat against Al Sadd at the end of last month. “I am looking forward to restoring confidence in my team after the recent series of negative results. I am hoping the team will be able to turn this page and focus on the match against Al Sadd,” Jovovic said during a press conference. “A difficult task awaits us against Al Sadd who are the league champions. They have been playing great football in a perfect season. We, on the other hand, have suffered several problems. Injuries to key players is one of those problems,” he said. “We tried to prepare well for the match, but we do not know if that was enough to get the result that would take us to the semi-finals,” the Al Ahli coach said. “Undoubtedly the loss against Al Sadd in the league impacted us. We went through difficult circumstances after that match and now we want to change the image and deliver a positive performance,” he said. Also today, Al Rayyan face Al Wakra in the other Amir Cup quarter-final at the same venue. Al Rayyan’s temporary Chilean coach Nicholas Cordova urged his team not to miss the chance to reach the semi-finals. “I am hoping we are able to grab the ticket to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition,” Cordova said yesterday. “Like other teams, we have suffered from a lack of adequte time to prepare for this crucial match due to the backlog of Qatar Stars League matches. We know the Al Wakra team is one of the teams that offers distinguished levels and they have a great coach. We hope that the match is enjoyed by the fans of both teams,” he said, “I took over as coach 16 days ago and it is difficult to make comprehensive changes in the team. However, we will continue to focus on aspects that would strengthen the team,” he added. “A victory always helps the team get out of the crisis of negative results and that is what we are looking at,” Cordova said. Al Wakrah’s Spanish coach Marques Lopez said his team is aiming to reach the final. “We want to reach the final. We don’t want to hide this aspect. If we finish third, we can ensure our participation in the AFC Champions League next season,” Lopez said yesterday. “We know that the match is important and Al Rayyan are still a formidable side,” he explained. “They may not have had good results recently but they have quality players. “On the other hand, my team has a chance to reach the semi-finals. Everyone knows the importance of this clash. We rested some players in the last match in the league for our match against Al Rayyan. It is our desire to reach the final,” he added.