Al Sadd Hassan Al Haydos during a training session in Doha on Saturday evening.
DOHA: Former champions Al Sadd are confident of turning things around in the second leg of their AFC Champions League semi-final against Persepolis this week.
In the first leg two weeks ago, Al Sadd conceded a late goal to hand over the advantage to Perspolis who host the Qatari giants tomorrow at the Azadi Stadium in the return leg.
Al Sadd forward Hamza Al Sanhaji said his side will be up against a tough task against Persepolis but added that it was not impossible to win.
He said: “The Al Sadd players are capable of overcoming the challenge and defeating Persepolis in front of their fans, by correcting the errors we made in the last game.”
He added: “Obviously, it will be a tough task but it won’t be impossible. There won’t be any option for us but to play offensively so as to score goals, because we need to overturn the first leg defeat we suffered at home. We have all the ingredients for success and our team has a lot of experience in continental competition.”
Al Sanhaji also refuted suggestions that the crowd would have a negative effect on the Al Sadd players in Tehran, saying: “This won’t go beyond the first few minutes of the game, we will adapt to the conditions quickly and deal with it.”
Meanwhile the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the list of referees who will take charge of the 2018 AFC Champions League semi-final second leg matches.
The match between Al Sadd and Persepolis will be refereed by Valentin Kovalenko of Uzbekistan. He will be assisted by linesmen Timur Gaynullin and Husniddin Shodmonov. Ruslan Serazitdinov will be the fourth official while Aziz Asimov and Ilgiz Tantashev will be the additional referees.
Yun Moon Chun will be the match commissioner while Shankar Kamaleshwaran has been appointed as the referees observer. Saryan Singh will be the official in charge of dope testing.
The Al Sadd first team delegation departed for the Iranian capital of Tehran yesterday.
In addition to team management officials and technical staff, the delegation consists of the following 19 players: Yasir Abubakar, Musab Kheder, Baghdad Bounedjah, Khoukhi Boualem, Salem Al-Hajri, Akram Afif, Meshaal Barsham, Jung Woo-young, Hamid Ismail, Hamza Al-Sanhaji, Pedro Miguel, Abdelkarim Hassan, Ahmed Sayyar, Ali Asad, Hassan Al-Haydos, Jehad Mohammed, Xavi Hernandez, Gabi Fernandez, Tarek Salman
Team management: Mohammed Ghanem Al-Ali (Head of Football), Turki Nasser Al-Ali (General Manager), Mohammed Gholam (Sporting Director), Ahmed Al-Ansari (Media Officer), Abdullah Al-Breik (First Team Manager), Mohammed Saeed (First Team Official)
Coaching and Technical Staff: Jesualdo Ferreira (Head Coach), Nuno Miguel (Assistant Coach), Jose Pedro (Physical Fitness Coach), Pedro Antonio (Technical Analyst), Eduardo Perez (Goalkeeping Coach), Mohammed Soltani (Team Doctor), Hussein Almanae, Akram Obaid (Physio), Admir, Ritchie (Masseur), Samir Shawky, Mina Fayez (Club Website), Abdulmalik Waheed, Musa Puthan, Laris Miah (Assistants)
Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad Al-Dosari will miss the game after picking up a second yellow card in the first leg, resulting in an automatic one-game suspension. Meanwhile, Yasir Abubakar will return to the squad after serving his suspension in the last game.
On Saturday evening, the team held their final training session in Doha at the club’s training facility, working on reaching full fitness. The coaching staff focused on selecting their preferred lineup and strategy for the game.
