Al-Sadd delegation reaches Tehran

The Al-Sadd football first team delegation arrived safely in Tehran at 10 PM Qatar time on Sunday ahead of their AFC Champions League playoff against Esteghlal on Tuesday at the Azadi Stadium.

Representatives of Esteghlal were at the Imam Khomeini Airport to receive the Al-Sadd delegation, handing each member roses on their arrival. Al-Sadd were welcomed by Esteghlal’s PR department, led by Mr. Baradari, who worked to ensure a comfortable passage for the team before they moved on to the Espinas Palace hotel, their place of residence for the duration of the stay in Tehran.

The Al-Sadd delegation has 20 players: Saad Al-Dosari, Muhannad Naim, Abdelkarim Hassan, Morteza Pouraliganji, Baghdad Bounedjah, Pedro, Ibrahim Majid, Hassan Al-Haydos, Ali Asad, Khalfan Ibrahim, Salem Al-Hajri, Meshaal Al-Shammari, Jasir Yahya, Hamza Al-Sanhaji, Xavi, Fahad Al-Qassemi, Mohammed Kasola, Hussam Kamal, Jugurtha Hamroun and Hamid Ismail.

Final training session at the Azadi Stadium

The Wolves then went on to hold their first and final pre-match training session at the Azadi Stadium from 6:30 PM Tehran time (6 PM Qatar).

Xavi gets police protection

The Iranian police helped the Al-Sadd delegation in ensuring the safe passage of captain Xavi Hernandez through the Imam Khomeini International Airport after many of his fans thronged the area to see him. Xavi was escorted safely to the team bus which took them to the team hotel.

Press conference

The pre-match press conference for the match will be held from 12:30 PM Tehran time with Al-Sadd represented by head coach Jesualdo Ferreira and defender Hussam Kamal.