QNB Stars League: Al Gharafa, Al Sailiya Coaches Underline Toughness of Opening Match

Doha, August 01 (QNA) - Al Gharafa and Al Sailiya coaches underscored the importance of their match in the opening round of the 2022/23 QNB Stars League season.
Speaking to the media ahead of their 2022-23 season QNB Stars League Week 1 match against Al Gharafa, Al Sailiya coach Sami Trabelsi "I wish success and brilliance in the World Cup season, as well as success for the Qatar team and all Arab teams to appear well in this great event.
"Our preparations for the new season were done well in the overseas camp in Tunisia and witnessed great discipline and the desire of the players to be fully prepared before the start of the season, which everyone knows will be very difficult. Our preparations this season differed with the presence of all professionals with us.
"Al Gharafa matches always need a very competitive character and each team will try to enter the season by achieving a positive result. Al Gharafa maintain technical stability and team strength, and we need to be fully focused so that we can utilize all our capabilities to help us achieve victory," said Trabelsi.
Meanwhile, Al Gharafa coach Andrea Stramaccioni said, "Our preparations for the match came through the Turkish preparation camp. The Al Sailiya match will need our full focus and we respect the opponents, as they are a strong team.
"Al Gharafa always play with the ambition of winning, and as we know, the first match is always difficult, and there are also many teams which are more prepared than us in the new season. So we have to provide good performance and it is very important to achieve a positive result despite the many absences that we suffer from.
"We have some injuries, such as Abdullah Al Saei, Othman Al Yahri and goalkeeper Ahmed Sufyan, and we will miss the efforts of Saeed Al Hajj, who has transferred to Al Sailiya. Tamim Al Muhaza will be out of the squad and therefore we will only have between 14 or 15 players. But this is not an excuse. On the contrary, it must be a strong incentive for us to achieve a positive result and I am confident that the players will do their best.
"I am very happy to have Yacine Brahimi with us. A few days ago, another distinguished player and a wonderful central defender joined us, Uzbek Islam Toktahugayev, who represented his country for a long period and has great experience. We are happy with his presence with us as well, and we hope that he supports the team and leads us to victories," said Stramaccioni. (QNA)