Al Duhail First Football Team Head Coach Djamel Belmadi, the head coach stressed that he is aware of the toughness of tomorrow’s match versus the UAE Shabab Al Ahli in the fourth round of the AFC Champions League Elite. He affirmed that the team must win the confrontation to keep their hopes alive in continuing their journey in the competition.
Belmadi began his statements during the pre-match press conference by saying: “We need to win the three points during our match against Shabab Al Ahli tomorrow. We are not in a good position in the AFC Champions League Elite standings. We know that things are getting harder, but we are striving to remain in the competition through this tournament.”
Belmadi continued: “This is a different competition, the AFC Champions League Elite, where we are looking to continue our campaign. We qualified for this tournament through the playoff at the start of the season because we could not qualify directly, and we faced many difficulties to achieve that qualification. Therefore, we must put in more effort to maintain what we have reached. We have come a long way, and we are playing on our home ground tomorrow, and I am absolutely certain that we have not achieved the points we deserve in this competition. Against Al Hilal, I believe everyone saw that we at least deserved a draw point, and then against Al Ahli, we deserved to win, and of course, Al Wahda match was not up to the required standard. We have the character and strength to continue at this level of competition, and we have a chance tomorrow, and we must utilize it optimally.”
He then added: “I am certain that attention to detail makes the difference in this competition. We made some mistakes that we should not have committed. Generally, and specifically in the first two matches, we were more organized, but some details, actions, and a slight complacency are things that should not happen in this competition because you are playing against high-level players. You can see the players of Al Hilal, Al Ahli, and Al Wahda, for example. Even tomorrow, we face a strong team with seven points in this competition, and they have no fear, as we saw in their previous match versus Al Ittihad. We must reduce the mistakes we make and elevate our level to continue in the competitions.”
Belmadi further stated: “The loss against Al Gharafa was a loss of a match in our league run. Against Al Gharafa, the team made some mistakes that we did not want to see, as I mentioned previously. We know very well that Al Gharafa is a strong team and one of the teams playing in the AFC Champions League too, and they succeeded in stopping our offensive attempts. We were prepared for the match, but we did not succeed in it, and this is possible. We have prepared well for tomorrow’s match and worked on overcoming the previous mistakes we made. Everyone must be fully focused, and we all must work to reduce the errors.”
Belmadi concluded his remarks by saying: “Of course, I agree with the statements of Shabab Al Ahli coach that self-confidence is important, and with a victory, victories follow. The winning mentality is what we are currently looking for. Al Duhail is a big team, and we always look for victories. In the last two seasons, the team’s results were not optimal, and we are currently seeking to correct the team’s path and return to winning titles and achieving consecutive victories, but I believe that tomorrow might be the suitable opportunity to achieve the first win in the league stage.
