DOHA: Al Sadd midfielder Ali Assad (pictured) said that his team is in pursuit of the QNB Stars League (QSL) title despite being ranked second in the standings.
Al Sadd are trailing behind Al Duhail by just two points and Xavi Hernendez’s men are chasing for their first QSL crown since the 2012-13 season.
“Our ambitions for the league title are still on. We’ve been longing for it since 2012-13,” Assad said during an interview with QSL Online.
One of the key players of Al Sadd, Assad said: “So far so good as we had won the season-opening Sheikh Jassim Cup. We’re competing hard in the QNB Stars League and want to fare well in the cup competitions and also AFC Champions League.”
Assad also noted that the team faced certain difficulties and challenges in the league such as injuries and they affected Al Saad negatively during the first phase.
He also predicted that the competition between Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and Al Duhail in the coming rounds will intensify.
“The competition between these three teams will be intense. We had lost to both Al Duhail and Al Rayyan in the first phase, so we’ll seek to compensate for that in the coming weeks.
Al Sadd are gearing up for their Week 15 match against Qatar SC on Saturday. The Wolves will surely seek to collect full points from the game in order to catch up with leaders Al Duhail, while the rivals badly need some positive results to avoid relegation.
“It will be a tough game and we have to be cautious not to miss any points and keep closing in on the top spot. Al Sadd are always looking for victories and we’ll do our best to achieve it against Qatar SC,” Assad said.
However, Al Sadd will miss the services of their Algerian attacking midfielder Jugurtha Hamroun who is on suspension for Saturday’s away match.
Assad said Hamroun’s absence will be felt, but was positive on coach Jesualdo Ferreira’s plans. “His absence adversely affected the team in the first phase. He’s a unique striker and fierce scorer. However, coach succeeded in making up for it to a large extent,” he said.
Al Sadd are coming off huge wins over Al Sailiya and Al Gharafa and Assad said that their main aim is three points from every game, not the number of goals.
“We promise our fans and management that we’ll put our best efforts to compete for the league title and do well in the AFC Champions League. My main ambition is to win the QNB Stars League title again with Al Sadd,” Assad said.
