Al Gharafa players celebrate after scoring a goal during the previous QNB Stars League in this file photo.
DOHA: Former champions Al Gharafa will be aiming for a win in their opening QNB Stars League clash against Qatar SC, new coach Christian Gourcuff said yesterday.
Al Gharafa, who won three back-to-back titles from 2008 to 2010, finished last season in fourth spot behind title winners Al Duhail, Al Sadd and Al Rayyan.
“I like to win every game. For that matter, all sides would like to win. You can win matches if you play good football. We hope to win Saturday’s match and thus make a strong start to our campaign,” Gourcuff said in his official media conference.
“All my players are ready to take on Qatar SC,” Gourcuff added.
The Frenchman said Al Gharafa have arrived prepared for the season’s opening clash to be played at Al Sadd Stadium tomorrow.
“We had a very good training camp in the Netherlands ahead of the start of the new season,” Gourcuff said.
“And then, we played in a tournament in Salalah, Oman. We want to see how we can improve on our game further,” he added.
Gourcuff said Al Gharafa - who will have the services of Dutch star Wesley Sneijder - won’t underestimate Qatar SC, who finished last season in 10th spot.
“All teams are staying focused, particularly at the beginning of the new season. And we are no different. We are concentrating much on our game against Qatar SC,” Gourcuff said.
“In the league, you can get bad results sometimes. My life has always been about football, be it a player or coach. One or two games is not a period to assess a team’s overall level.
Qatar SC coach Abdulla Mubarak said his players were feeling short of match practice
“The preparatory period was very short. One month was not enough for the players to gear up for the season,” Mubarak said yesterday.
“However, we could make an elaborate plan for the tournament,” he added.
“We made the best use of our time. We played six friendly games and tried out three different combinations. All players were seen in action and I am so happy that they adapted well,” Mubarak informed.
“We have tried to strike the right balance in our squad. We are up against a strong team (Al Gharafa) in the first match. But it is better to face Al Gharafa than facing Al Duhail at the very start of the season,” the Qatari said.
“Al Gharafa had put up a strong performance against CS Sfaxien (Tunisian club) at the Salalah tournament in Oman recently. But we are confident,” Mubarak said.
“My ambition is to put Qatar SC in the top rung of the QNB Stars League. To be among the top four is a difficult target to achieve. For that, we must double our efforts,” said Abdulla.
For the first four rounds of the new QNB Stars League season, the matches will be played at only two venues - Al Sadd Stadium and the Khalifa International Stadium. Both venues are equipped with state-of-the-art cooling technology.
After the first four rounds, the teams will move to their own home grounds for the remainder of the rounds from September onward, Qatar Stars League (QSL) announced last month.
