Image of Djamel Belmadi taken from DuhailSC official Twitter page.
DOHA: Al Duhail coach Djamel Belmadi (pictured) said his team will be eyeing the Amir Cup glory to complete a trophy treble in the season, adding that the QSL champions ‘deserved to win’ the semi-final against Al Sadd on Friday.
Rising star Ali Almoez on Friday fired the only goal of the match at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in the 68th minute in what turned out to be a hotly-contested clash between the arch-rivals.
The clash on Friday was a near repeat of what happened in the Qatar Cup final two weeks ago when the two sides were involved in a feisty contest at the same venue.
“We deserved to win the semi-final as we have worked really hard,” Belmadi said after the clash on Friday night.
“We deserved a place in the final. We will work harder now as we are just one win away from lifting the Amir Cup,” the Algerian tactician added.
“In the last season, we won the league (QSL title) but lost in the final of the Qatar Cup. Every year we try to be better than the year before,” Belmadi said.
“We had many chances to end the match with a bigger score. Now our target is to win the Amir Cup,” Belmadi, the former Qatar national team coach, said.
“After the good performance against Al Ain (in the AFC Champions League), it was not easy on us against Al Sadd. The match was difficult but we have four days to prepare for the (in the second leg) against Al Ain.
Belmadi said his team will switch focus to the Al Ain clash set to take place this week. In the first leg, Al Duhail thrashed Al Ain 4-2.
“We work very hard to achieve our goals. Now we have an important match against Al Ain. That game can guarantee our qualification for the quarter-finals. After that game, we will have a rest before returning to prepare for the new season,” he added.
An angry Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira seemed frustrated after his team lost their second successive clash against Al Duhail, who also won the Qatar Cup clash against the Doha giants at the end of last month.
“I refuse to talk about the game because it was not as everyone expected. In the first half, both teams were equal. In the second half, we were a man short but we tried to fight,” Ferreira said.
Ferreira felt some of the VAR calls were not up to mark since Al Sadd could have won a penalty kick decision when Hassan Al Haydos was brought down by Al Duhail.
The Portuguese coach also said the decision to send Abdulkarim Hassan out of the game with a red card was harsh since the foul was ‘merely deserved a yellow card’.
“Unfortunately, we lost this game and the pace will affect us in front of my players as we get ready for our trip to Jeddah,” Ferreira said.
Al Sadd will now travel to Jeddah for the second leg of their AFC Champions League clash against Al Ahli who were beaten 2-1 last week.
Ferreira sounded dejected that his team were at the receiving end of a few VAR calls in the Amir Cup clash on Friday. In the Qatar Cup final at the end of April, Al Sadd players were thrown out of the game for challenging the referee calls.
“It is very sad end because two consecutive times we lost after the referee used video replays to make decisions,” Ferreira said. “The situation could have been different,” he said.
“The previous season was much better for us than this season. This season we just won the Super League title. Now we have to work very hard to achieve a positive result and move into the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League,” Ferreira said.
The Amir Cup final on May 19 will signal the end of the regular football season in Qatar.
