Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ho Chi Minh: Al Rayyan’s head coach Carlos Cesar Gago has singled out Al Dhafrah’s foreign imports as their biggest assets, adding that his players will be keeping a keen eye on the pair as the Qatar side seek to seal their place in the competition’s final four, ahead of Thursday’s quarter-finals.
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The Spaniard has every reason to focus his energies on the deadly duo.
Between them, Japanese international Rafael Henmi and Williams Oliveira Do Nascimento (Vassoura) have accounted for six of Al Dhafrah’s eight goals in the group stages.
“Al Dhafrah are a good team. But in Henmi and Vassoura, they have two quality players. They are the glue of this team and everything revolves around these two players. If you look at the game against Thai Son Nam, the home team did well to stop them and in my opinion, that was one of the main reasons for their victory.
“We need to be careful of them and we are preparing, especially, to minimise their impact on tomorrow’s game”
Having registered successive victories in their opening two matches, the UAE side suffered a blow to their campaign when they lost to Iraqi giants Nafit Al-Wasat in their last match, conceding two goals in the closing stages. But coach Gago seemed unperturbed by his side’s collapse in concentration.
“For me, the competition starts tomorrow. The Nafit match is over but it was good preparation for our next match. We have brought a lean team here, so in terms of depth, the other teams have an advantage over us. We have to take it one step at a time, but yes, of course, we want to reach the final.
“We expect a tough match tomorrow, but we need to focus on our strengths. We are a very close-knit group of players, with strong mentality. Tactically, we are sound and disciplined so we are confident, we want to win tomorrow.”
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