Ferreira: We finished the game off in the first half, fatigue affected us in the second

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira praised his side after they registered a 4-0 win over Al-Shahaniya in Round 4 of the QNB Stars League.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Ferreira said: “We played well and got what we wanted – three points. We returned from Iran with fatigue and this affected the players in the second half. As I said earlier, the team hasn’t reached its full strength since the start of the season.”

He added: “We finished the game off in the first half. I really liked the first 20 minutes, especially the team work which was excellent. After the third goal, the players didn’t exhaust themselves. I could notice the players’ fatigue in the second half and I excuse them for that. Despite this, we created many chances to try and increase the score, which is a really good thing. My team loves to score goals. Fatigue affected us or we could have scored 8 goals.”

“The second half was very boring for us and the fans. We only played for 20 minutes in it. We didn’t perform at the expected level in the last 25 minutes.”

As for the possible effect of the league break on his team, Ferreira said: “Many of the Al-Sadd players will be at the Qatar national team camp and they will only return before our important game against Esteghlal. This happens in all the countries and I just hope they will return without any injuries. I am really happy that 10 of our players are in the national team.”