Xavi: We played a great game against Muaither

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez expressed his delight after his side’s big 7-0 win over Muaither in the Round of 16 of the 2021 Amir Cup.

In his comments at the post-match press conference, Xavi said: “We played a great game against Muaither as we have been doing recently. The young players were up to the responsibility and showed a great level – Bahaa, Hashim, Yousuf, in addition to Ali Asad and Salem Al-Hajri who were all excellent.”

He added: “I am delighted with the return of Saad Al-Dosari to the team. We have 25 players who are at an excellent level and every player who plays deserves to wear the Al-Sadd jersey. We also have the U-23 team which has great players and is on top of their league now.”

Xavi also said: “Al-Sadd is an attacking team and we focus on that in our work. We are going through our best moments now, having reached the quarterfinals of the Amir Cup and topping the QSL.”

As for playing Al-Gharafa in the quarterfinals, the coach said: “Facing Al-Gharafa is like an early final, because they are one of the 3 best teams in the league. They have good players and a great coach, and it’s going to be difficult to face them. We need to prepare in a specialised way, especially as our goal is to reach the final.”