Ferreira: It’s an important match for us; we need to work hard to win it

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira spoke of the difficulty and importance of the upcoming 2017-18 Sheikh Jassim Cup final against Al-Duhail, which will be played on Saturday at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Ferreira said: “Everyone knows that we didn’t play any official match in four months. The last match we played was in the Emir Cup final against Al-Rayyan.”

“Most of our players have also been away with the Qatar national team. Our team was only completed yesterday with the return of these players to training. This match is therefore not going to be easy at all. The same goes for Al-Duhail. Nobody can predict the result,” added the Portuguese coach.

As for the task of overcoming Al-Duhail, Ferreira said: “We are facing a strong team that won the league last season. We will give our all in order to get the win as it is a very important match for us. As I said, you can’t predict the score because of the injuries and the players who have just returned from international duty. We haven’t settled on a lineup yet.”

Al-Sadd are missing influential players in the back, such as Pedro and Ibrahim Majid, but Ferreira expressed his hopes that young players will make up for it. “Of course, we are missing some key players but we also have excellent youngsters to replace them. Also, Morteza has returned so he will be a big help for the team in defence.”

You can watch the press conference below: