Ferreira: We know how important this game is, we’ll face Nasaf with a winning mentality

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira stressed on the importance of his side’s upcoming AFC Champions League game against Uzbek club Nasaf, while speaking at the pre-match press conference at Qarshi ahead of Monday’s clash.

The coach said: “It is a great honour to be here in Uzbekistan. I am happy with the weather and it’s a beautiful country. The match venue is excellent as well.”

“We are going to play a crucial game in the AFC Champions League,” Ferreira added. “Everyone in the team knows how important this game is, and how important it is to win because the points could get us closer to the next stage of the competition.”

Ferreira also pointed out that Nasaf were “a strong side” that was playing at home and that the Al-Sadd players had no doubts about the difficulty of the fixture.

As for his team’s injury problems, Ferreira said: “There are important players who are missing – Xavi and Morteza Pouraliganji, who are both injured. This is how football is but we will play the game with 11 fit players who are ready to give their best.”

Asked about the defeat to Al-Duhail in the previous game, the coach replied: “I was hoping to win the league and the AFC Champions League as well but the league is now beyond our reach.”

The coach also remarked: “The next two weeks are crucial for us, as we have two back-to-back games against Nasaf, the results of which will determine the future of our campaign.”

“We are on top of our group after two games. We have one objective and that is to keep our journey going with the same intensity. Our mentality is to always score goals. In the Champions League, there are matches both home and away, and so there are different factors to think about but this won’t change our philosophy.”

Finally, Ferreira was asked to name the strongest team in Group C. He said: “Al-Sadd have won the Asian title twice and we are not new to the competition. Nasaf are an excellent side, whose league has started just three weeks ago while ours is almost at its end. So, it is difficult to say which is the strongest team. Moreover, this is not the right time to be talking about the strongest team.”