Al-Sadd head coach Juanma spoke about the importance of the upcoming match against Al Arabi in the semi-finals of the 2023 Qatar Cup, which will be played on Thursday evening at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
Speaking during the pre-match press conference: “We are going into another tournament, and it will definitely be different from the league. We are facing an excellent and cohesive team, and we know this.”
He added: “Al-Arabi is doing well in the league and achieving positive results, and we know this very well. We beat Al-Arabi in the league and we were at the height of our efforts, but this next match is different from the previous match. Al-Arabi will present a better performance and we must be careful and we must perform better to overcome them.”
Regarding the team’s preparations for the match, the coach said: “We are preparing for the match as a cup match, and we have a final training session ahead of us today, and our focus now is on the strengths of our team and the competing team.”
He continued: “The league championship has a long way to go, and we have joined the competition strongly, and facing Al-Arabi in the Qatar Cup is different, and we will work to give our best, especially when we have just one chance to qualify.”
And about the absences in the team, Juanma said: “At this time, there are no absences, and Al-Sadd is fully prepared for the match, and this is the first time since the beginning of the season that this has happened to us, and I hope that we will continue in this way.”
The coach concluded by saying: “The responsibility now will be on the players after preparing them, and this will be seen in the performance that they will present during the match. I hope that the Al Sadd fans will be behind us during the match.”
