‘One point is good and three points is fantastic. All coaches think of getting the three points. My ambition is to get three points but if we get one that will be good as well’

The QSL spotlight game today will see an impressive Al Shahania side take on title chasing Al Sadd at Al Arabi stadium in the opening match of the sixth round of QSL action.
Newly promoted Al Shahania has enjoyed a fine start to life in the QSL and is currently undefeated in four games.  Last time out Jose Fernando’s men registered their second win of the season, with an impressive 2-1 victory over Al Sailiya. The Oryxes bossed the tie throughout, and goals from Mohamed Tiaiba and Abdullah Al-Yazidi ensured the points not before a late Al Sailiya consolation.
Indeed Jose Fernando will be hoping that his man Mohammed Tiaiba can continue his rich vein of goal scoring form. The Algerian hit man has so far scored three goals in five QSL games, and he will have to be at his lively best if the Orxyes are to score an upset against title chasing Al Sadd.
As for the visitors, they will have been disappointed to have have just taken a point against Al Gharafa last time in their thrilling 3-3 draw in round five. The Wolves came back from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead on the stroke of half time. Unfortunately for Jesaldo Ferriera’s side they conceded a last gasp goal to have a share of the spoils.
The result leaves Al Sadd in third place in the QSL standings, with eleven points from five QSL games.  Sadd have also yet to taste defeat this term, and are just two points of league leaders Lekhwiya.
Al Sadd’s captain fantastic Xavi will need to put in a composed performance in the center of the park, if Al Sadd are to get the win against a lively Al Shahania side. The former Spanish international picked up his first goal of the season in the draw with Gharafa with a surging late run, and will be hoping for more against the Oryxes today evening.
Jose Fernando, the head coach of Al Shahania, spoke about his team’s current form, “Everybody is talking about Shahania and that is good for us. We are going to play Al Sadd who is a strong team with good players and a good manager. We approach each game individually and we try to get points and tomorrow we will try to get points for us.”
“One point is good and three points is fantastic. All coaches think of getting the three points. My ambition is to get three points but if we get one that will be good as well. Most important is that we don’t lose because it’s bad for the confidence of the players,” added the Portuguese tactician at the press conference on Tuesday.
Fernando spoke highly about his Al Sadd counterpart as well, “I have so much respect for Jesualdo Ferreira, and he is one of the best coaches in the world. He has won many titles in Portugal and Egypt. I am good friends with him but when the game starts I only care about my team and I don’t care about who the coach is and where he is from, I only care about my players.”
Jesualdo Ferreira, the head coach of Al Sadd spoke about the Portuguese football mentality, “I am looking forward to the game and I wish him (Fernando) good luck. He is young and he still has a long journey ahead. He has the winning mentality. Shahania has plenty of motivation because they are facing Al Sadd; they are having a run of three great games. No one expected it and now there is pressure on them and they are expected to succeed.”
Speaking about their round three draw with Gharafa, Ferreira added, “I don’t like to lose points like this. We had many chances to score but we missed and we made some mistakes which cost us. Gharafa is a good team with good players, we had to play until 95th minute and not lose concentration and for me always winning is mandatory and losing two points the way we did is not ideal.”
“Losing those two points will not affect our journey to the title. All sides loose points. We don’t need to lose points anymore and tomorrow’s game is important because if the other teams slip up we will move up the table,” added the experienced Portuguese tactician.

today’s Fixtures
At 5:20pm
Al Khor vs Lekhwiya
Al Shahaniya vs Al Sadd

At 7:30pm
Al Rayyan vs Al Ahli
Al Sailiya vs El Jaish

Shahania has plenty of motivation because they are facing Al Sadd; they are having a run of three great games. No one expected it and now there is pressure on them and they are expected to succeed.”