Al Duhail First Football Team Head Coach Djamel Belmadi emphasized the importance of the team match versus Al Wakrah in the second round of the Doha Bank Stars League. He made his comments during the pre-match press conference held at Al Duhail Club headquarters.
Belmadi commenced by saying: “We were able to prepare well this time before the match against Al Wakrah, as there was a full week between the first match and the upcoming one. Unlike the first league match, where we only had two or three days to complete our preparations, this extra time is certainly important for us to regain our strength.”
He added: “The goals at Al Duhail Club don’t change regardless of who the coach is. The ambition is always to win titles. This season saw changes to the regulations, which allowed for an increase in the number of professional players in the league. This greatly affects the balance of the teams, but our ambitions don’t change. We have to be positive in front of the goal in order to win our matches.”
He went on: “The previous match versus Al Shahania is in the past. The circumstances are different, and the players are different from our matches in the league and the Champions League. Our focus now is on building and developing the team, as there have been many changes in our squad.”
Belmadi continud “Defensive organization is a collective effort for the entire team, not just the defensive players. It takes some time to reach a great state of cohesion, and of course, during this period, we must achieve victories. Naturally, at the beginning of the season, not everything will be perfect.”
Belmadi concluded his statements by saying: “Since the beginning of the season, we faced a difficult test against Sepahan in the AFC Champions League qualification playoff, which was a major challenge for us—either to qualify or be eliminated. This, of course, affected our preparations for the league. Since 2010, with the exception of last season, we have been accustomed to being at the highest levels among the elite in Asia, like Al Hilal and Al Ahli and other strong Asian clubs, and we must always maintain this level.
