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ikoli victor
doha
Umm Salal will be chasing a first win against Al Rayyan in nine years in a QNB Stars League Week 13 fixture at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Gharafa on Friday.
In their last five league fixtures, they drew thrice with Rayyan winning twice. The Lions are fourth in the league standings with 22 points; seven ahead of the Orange Fortress having a bad run, collecting only two points from their last five matches.
Al Rayyan’s U-23 coach Gilson Souza said: “The next game against Umm Salal is an important one as far as we’re concerned. We’re preparing very hard. We’ve to prove our capabilities on the pitch, where victories are achieved and not by history and statistics.
“We know that our opponents aren’t having a good run of late. But we’ll be wary of them and we’ll play for a win. Our team hasn’t been defeated in the last four games. That augurs well for the team and we can achieve better results in the coming games.
Al Rayyan were competitive during the international break, defeating Al Shahania 3-1 in the third round of the QSL Cup.
“The two-week break in the QNB Stars League didn’t affect our team. We played and won against Al Shahania by a 3-1 margin in the QSL Cup,” Souza said.
“It’s difficult to assess the level of the team. Our goal was title triumph. However, it’s a fact now that Al Duhail are edging closer to it, so we aim to be in the top four,” he added.
Meanwhile, Umm Salal assistant coach Bouziane Ben Arabi will be in charge of the game after the departure of the Dutch coach Laurent Banide following team’s decline in form.
“My first match as in- charge against Al Rayyan has turned out to be a very tough one. We have lost a lot of points of late. We’ve been mainly working on boosting the players’ morale, so we can make a strong comeback against Al Rayyan,” Bouziane said at the pre-match press conference.
“I’m a coach, I definitely love my job and I’ll do everything to succeed in it. Umm Salal have to get back
to the winning path and we’ve to give everything to the team.
“I’m the assistant coach and what’s important at this stage is service to the team, above anything else. We’ve a good team and I hope they’ll bring out their best as was shown in the training sessions.
“Al Rayyan are a good team, but we had held them to a draw in the first leg,” he added.
Fifth-placed Al Ahli looking to take advantage of any slip from those above them, face a Qatar SC side that are threatened with relegation in tenth place.
Al Kharaitiyat will be looking for a morale-boosting victory against struggling Al Shahania in Friday’s other fixture.
doha
Umm Salal will be chasing a first win against Al Rayyan in nine years in a QNB Stars League Week 13 fixture at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Gharafa on Friday.
In their last five league fixtures, they drew thrice with Rayyan winning twice. The Lions are fourth in the league standings with 22 points; seven ahead of the Orange Fortress having a bad run, collecting only two points from their last five matches.
Al Rayyan’s U-23 coach Gilson Souza said: “The next game against Umm Salal is an important one as far as we’re concerned. We’re preparing very hard. We’ve to prove our capabilities on the pitch, where victories are achieved and not by history and statistics.
“We know that our opponents aren’t having a good run of late. But we’ll be wary of them and we’ll play for a win. Our team hasn’t been defeated in the last four games. That augurs well for the team and we can achieve better results in the coming games.
Al Rayyan were competitive during the international break, defeating Al Shahania 3-1 in the third round of the QSL Cup.
“The two-week break in the QNB Stars League didn’t affect our team. We played and won against Al Shahania by a 3-1 margin in the QSL Cup,” Souza said.
“It’s difficult to assess the level of the team. Our goal was title triumph. However, it’s a fact now that Al Duhail are edging closer to it, so we aim to be in the top four,” he added.
Meanwhile, Umm Salal assistant coach Bouziane Ben Arabi will be in charge of the game after the departure of the Dutch coach Laurent Banide following team’s decline in form.
“My first match as in- charge against Al Rayyan has turned out to be a very tough one. We have lost a lot of points of late. We’ve been mainly working on boosting the players’ morale, so we can make a strong comeback against Al Rayyan,” Bouziane said at the pre-match press conference.
“I’m a coach, I definitely love my job and I’ll do everything to succeed in it. Umm Salal have to get back
to the winning path and we’ve to give everything to the team.
“I’m the assistant coach and what’s important at this stage is service to the team, above anything else. We’ve a good team and I hope they’ll bring out their best as was shown in the training sessions.
“Al Rayyan are a good team, but we had held them to a draw in the first leg,” he added.
Fifth-placed Al Ahli looking to take advantage of any slip from those above them, face a Qatar SC side that are threatened with relegation in tenth place.
Al Kharaitiyat will be looking for a morale-boosting victory against struggling Al Shahania in Friday’s other fixture.
