Ferreira: We still have a chance of going through

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira feels that his side still retains hope of qualifying for the AFC Champions League final, after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Persepolis in the first leg of the semifinals.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Ferreira said: “We still have a chance of winning the second leg. The team must believe in its chances in order to achieve this goal.”

“We are only thinking about one result and that is to win the second leg in Tehran. This is the only result that will take us through to the final.”

He added: “Persepolis are a tough side. They were wrestling with us, it is not football. They wasted time throughout the game.”

“We fought well but now we don’t have any option but to win the second leg in order to keep our title hopes alive. We know how difficult it will be but we have the desire to achieve it.”

Asked about his team selection and substituions, he said: “Meshaal Barsham was injured and he wasn’t able to kick the ball. That’s why Saad Al-Dosari played but he won’t be playing in the second leg because he picked up a yellow card. As for Hamza Al-Sanhaji, he is our only striker on the bench and I put him in to replace Hamid Ismail to add strength to the attack. Hamza’s lack of playing time in the league is not in our hands, it is due to the QFA’s rules.”

As for playing with three central midfielders, Ferreira responded: “If you look at the game against Al-Rayyan, we played with the same formation and it was very successful.”

Finally, Ferreira concluded by saying: “The second leg will be really difficult especially as we are going to be playing in front of 100,000 fans. They have a big advantage because of the 1-0 win here. They also have great physical strength and will look to exploit our mistakes, but I am sure that Al-Sadd are capable of returning with a positive result.”