Al-Sadd draw 4-4 with Goztepe in first preseason friendly

Al-Sadd drew 4-4 with Turkish side Goztepe in the first of the three friendlies being held as part of the preseason camp in Bad Häring, Austria.

The match was played on Thursday at the ground in Volders city, which is a 40-minute drive away from Hotel Das Sieben, the Al-Sadd team’s place of residence.

Al-Sadd began the match with the following XI: Saoud Al-Hajri, Morteza Pouraliganji, Ibrahim Majid, Pedro, Fahad Shanin, Ahmed Sayyar, Ali Asad, Xavi, Hassan Al-Haydos, Jugurtha Hamroun and Baghdad Bounedjah.

Goztepe took the lead in the 3rd minute through Algerian striker Nabil Ghilas before Hamroun equalized in the 11th minute. Baghdad Bounedjah then scored in the 34th minute to give Al-Sadd a 2-1 lead. Hassan Al-Haydos made it 3-1 in the 39th minute with a penalty. The first half ended with that scoreline and halftime also saw Al-Sadd goalkeeper Saoud Al-Hajri taken off due to injury. He was replaced by Meshaal Barsham.

At the beginning of the second half, head coach Jesualdo Ferreira made 8 changes to the Al-Sadd team. Ibrahim Majid, Morteza Pouraliganji, Ahmed Sayyar, Xavi, Ali Asad, Baghdad Bounedjah, Jugurtha Hamroun and Hassan Al-Haydos were replaced by Ghassan Waheed, Musab Kheder, Hatem Kamal, Abdulaziz Al-Jalabi, Hassan Ahmed, Meshaal Al-Shammari, Yasser Abubakr and Ayoob Mashhoor.

In the 50th minute, Goztepe reduced the deficit with a strike from Macedonian forward Adis Jahovic. He then scored again six minutes later to level the scores. In the 71st minute, Goztepe took a 4-3 lead after Frenchman Mathieu Peybernes scored. Al-Sadd then scored through Hassan Ahmed in the 87th minute to ensure the spoils were shared.

Saoud Ibrahim and Mohammed Waad also took to the field for Al-Sadd in the second half.