Tareq Salman: Happy to join the biggest club in Qatar

Al-Sadd’s recent signing Tareq Salman has spoken to the club website in an interview, shedding light on his career and development over the years before joining the Wolves on loan earlier this month.

Speaking at the club’s preseason training camp in Austria, Tareq spoke about his happiness at being able to play at Al-Sadd and vowed to give his best for the club in the upcoming season.

“My name is Tareq Salman Sulaiman and I was born in 1997. I started playing football for Al-Wakrah Club when I was six. After that I joined the Aspire Academy and played for the Qatar age group teams. I was at Aspire for a long time and it prepared me well. I then went to play abroad in the youth side of Real Sociedad for six months,” said the 20-year-old defender.

“I won the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship with Qatar, alongside some Al-Sadd players such as Akram Afif and Salem Al-Hajri. I then took part in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, after which I went (to Spain) to play for Deportivo Alaves. Later, I played for the Qatar Olympic team before getting a chance to play for the senior national team at the International Friendship Tournament in Basra. All this has helped me to improve and develop greatly.”

Tareq now looks forward to donning the Al-Sadd jersey for the first time. “I am very happy to join the best club in Qatar and Asia. Al-Sadd is a well-known club and this is will be a new experience for me as well, coming back to play in Qatar after three years abroad.”

“I have a great opportunity to play with big stars like Xavi, Gabi and Hassan Al-Haydos, in addition to some of my national team mates such as Akram Afif and Salem Al-Hajri. I believe I am capable of settling in quickly and easily with the rest of the group.”

As for his chances of making the first XI, Tareq said: “I am happy to compete with others for the spots in the team. This will be favourable for all as everyone will give their best. I am ready for this challenge and I will strive to be in the good books of everyone.”

Al-Sadd are currently preparing with an eye on the upcoming AFC Champions League quarterfinal next month and Tareq believes that the team will compete hard with a strong squad to call upon. “Al-Sadd’s objective is to compete for the Asian title. With the arrival of Gabi, Jung (Woo-young) and Afif’s renewal, and also all the other stars, the squad will push hard to get the trophy,” said the youngster.

Tareq concluded his talk by saying: “I hope I can impress the Al-Sadd fans. I am aware of my responsibility by wearing the Al-Sadd jersey and I aim to give them a reason to cheer.”