Al Duhail First Football Team Head Coach Djamel Belmadi expressed his happiness with the big and deserved victory achieved by the team today over a strong opponent like Al-Ittihad. He added that the team still has a lot to offer in the coming period.
Belmadi opened his statements by saying: “As I mentioned yesterday, the match versus Al-Ittihad would not be easy, and playing on our home ground, we had to prove our right to the victory we achieved in the previous match against Shabab Al-Ahli. I would like to congratulate all the players who performed exceptionally and offer special congratulations to Adel Boulbina, who is sharing the press conference with me. When we impose our style and keep possession of the ball, I consider that a great job.”
Belmadi then added: “We are fully aware of Adel Boulbina’s potential, and he knows very well what is required of him, and he has the capabilities to do it, which is why we signed him at Al-Duhail. He possesses sufficient skills and quality, but he is still young and needs to learn a lot and work hard. He has a great future here at Al Duhail Club. If he works and learns well, he will also have a future with the Algerian national team, but he did a fantastic job tonight.”
Belmadi continued his speech, saying: “We played against Al-Hilal, then Al-Ahli, and today versus Al-Ittihad, and they are all Saudi clubs. I say that we did not deserve to lose to Al-Hilal in Riyadh despite the absence of key players from our side like Marco Verratti, Edmilson Junior, and Karim Boudiaf, who left the match injured, in addition to Castello. Then, in Al-Ahli match, we gifted them the equalizing goal in a game where I still believe we deserved more than just a point. Today we achieved the victory. They are all strong clubs with high-level players, and against clubs of this caliber, we must give our best to win. Today was a big challenge for us to defeat a major team and a good coach like Al-Ittihad, but we still have a lot to offer in the upcoming rounds.”
Belmadi concluded his statements by saying: “Karim Benzema is a great player and a former Ballon d’Or winner. He can score against us from the slightest chances available, and he troubled us a lot during the match. We left him a small space to practice his hobby, but in the end, we scored four goals and could have scored more if we had been able to exploit the chances we created.
