Al Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez addressed the media ahead of the upcoming AFC Champions League game against Iran’s Foolad, stressing on the complexity and difficulty of the game. The Matchday 5 clash will be played tomorrow Monday at the Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh.
Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Xavi said: “It will be a very complicated match against Foolad, which is very important for us. We suffered against them in the first match. They are a strong offensive team.”
“We are well prepared to give our best, in this match which will be crucial and like a final for us. It will decide the fate of the team in the group.”
The coach added: “We have the enthusiasm and motivation to win and all the players are eager to win. Everyone in the team knows that it is like a final and we are working for it.”
“We must play with spirit, strength and passion against a strong team, and we must offer 100% of our level to win.”
About the pressure on the team while playing a match every 3 days, Xavi said: “We play every 3 days and this is great pressure for all the teams, from the first day of the tournament. We know the difficulty of the schedule, especially in the month of Ramadan, and this is not an easy thing, but we must be ready for that.”
He added: “There is strong competition among all the teams and we have all the ingredients to qualify, especially as we can rely on ourselves to achieve it and we are capable of doing it.”
Xavi concluded by saying: “We must focus on ourselves only and we will not look at the results of others, and we are the ones who will decide our position in the group.”
