Ferreira: The win over Al-Arabi is a great rehearsal for the ACL game

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira spoke of his great delight after his side defeated Al-Arabi 5-1 in the QNB Stars League Round 17 game played on Saturday.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Ferreira said: “I asked the players at the beginning of the match to not exhaust themselves and to move the ball around instead of running. Everyone knows that we are coming after a long journey from the UAE and there is another match in the AFC Champions League after 72 hours.”

The head coach added: “We scored early on and this helped the players implement their style on the game, with long balls which helped us get the win. Al-Arabi scored their goal after we were 2-0 up and it was a beautiful goal. In the second half, we scored twice in the beginning and after that, I took off Yasir, Xavi and Bounedjah to give them rest amidst the congested schedule.”

Ferreira also pointed out that he was delighted with the performance and the result. “I am very happy with the win and the performance of the players,” said the Portuguese coach. “I think that this game will give us more confidence in the upcoming game. We want to win the league and we will fight until the end.”

“This win will help us in the psychological aspects, giving us a boost ahead of Tuesday’s game in the ACL. We played in a manner that would not exhaust our players and this is what we succeeded in doing, especially in the second half. I knew that we would win by a big score because of our possession of the ball and control of proceedings in the second half.”

Finally, Ferreira said: “We worked like the big European teams in long ball play and we succeeded in it. This match was a positive rehearsal for the upcoming ACL game. I hope Khoukhi Boualem and Jugurtha Hamroun return and that we will work on both domestic and Asian fronts. This win is a boost for what is to come next.”