Al Duhail First Football Team Head Coach Djamel Belmadi emphasized his desire to get the team back on track and deliver a better performance in the second half of the season. This begins with the match against Al Shahania, scheduled for Thursday, 08 January 2026, in the opening round of the second leg of the Doha Bank Stars League.
Belmadi opened his remarks during the pre-match press conference, stating: “This is the first match of the second leg of the season. We have a genuine desire to regain our form and deliver a much better performance during the second half of the season, especially since the first half did not meet the club ambitions. This second phase will be crucial, and there is no better way to kick it off than with a strong performance and a victory in the first game.”
Belmadi added: “We must forget their first leg performance and ignore the current league standings. We are facing a team that, I believe, has appointed a new coach; as is well known, a new manager often brings a fresh dynamic to a squad. We saw clear evidence of this in their recent match against the league leaders, Al Gharafa, where they secured a massive win and scored several goals while keeping a clean sheet. We realize that Al Shahania current position may not reflect their true quality in this league, so we expect a difficult encounter. Without diving into technical specifics or deep analysis, it is safe to say we are anticipating a complicated match.”
He continued: “It has been some time since our last league title; we haven’t won it in the last two seasons. So far, we have produced a half-season that is completely insufficient. Consequently, we must be humble and admit that we cannot boast about our current ranking, nor can we claim that we are targeting the title. It is illogical to say you want to be the champion when you are in eighth place. However, given the competitive mentality of the players, the technical staff, and myself personally, we will not give up on anything during this stage. It is clear that Al Duhail is not in its rightful place at the moment.”
Belmadi concluded his remarks by saying: “Returning to what I mentioned earlier, we must remain humble and refrain from talking about winning the title for now. For us, every match from here on out will be of great importance. We will re-evaluate the situation halfway through the second leg of the season; only then can we determine exactly where we stand.
