Ferreira: The international players must remain focused, the break affected us

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira congratulated the Qatari government and people for the national team’s win at the Asian Cup, while adding that he wished to salute the players and the coaching staff for this achievement.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of Al-Sadd’s QNB Stars League game against Al-Khor, Ferreira said: “It’s very difficult for an Asian team to achieve what Qatar did, by winning 7 games out of 7. I want to thank the Al Sadd players in the team for their excellent performance.”

The coach also talked about the effect of the international break on his team. “The team hasn’t been at full strength in training for two months because of the absence of the international players and this affected us negatively. I know that they were on national duty and I just hope they can continue to perform well for us, like they did in the last game against Al-Duhail.”

Ferreira added: “We will work to get the players fully focused in all the seven remaining games, especially in the league, which is an important target for Al-Sadd.”

The coach also confirmed that team captain Xavi Hernandez will miss the game due to injury.