Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuwait City: Having seen his team come up short in their quest to win a fifth consecutive Kuwait Premier League title this season, Al Qadsia coach Mohammad Ebrahim has now set his sights on winning the Kuwait Emir’s Cup and booking their place in the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup.
The 2010 AFC Cup runners-up are closing in on that first objective after reaching the Emir’s Cup semi-finals with a 12-0 aggregate demolition of Al Yurmok earlier this month. And they will be looking to seal their place in the last eight of the continental competition when they entertain Omani champions Fanja at the Mohammed Al Hamad Stadium on Wednesday.
With Al Qadsia finishing a distant second in their domestic league this season, 12 points behind champions Kuwait SC, Ebrahim (pictured) is keen for his players to make amends in the two Cup competitions.
“We are going through a tough period as we are battling on two fronts but we want to get good results in the two competitions. We must concentrate well and work very hard in order to win the two titles,” he said.
“Fanja are a strong team and they have several good players. We must develop our style on the pitch and the players must give all their best and play with a good fighting spirit in order to advance to the next round.”
Al Qadsia defender Mohamad Rashed has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury but forward Hamad Aman and defender Mesaed Neda should return to the line-up after recovering from their own recent knocks.
Meanwhile, Fanja will be sweating on the fitness of defenders Mohammed Aiyad and Mukhlid Al Raqqadi and forward Younis Al Mushaifri as they attempt to recover from recent injuries while midfielder Sidy Keita will definitely miss the match through suspension after he was sent off in his side’s 3-1 win over Ahli Taiz two weeks ago.
“The performance of our team is improving gradually and we managed to qualify to the round of 16 after a great effort,” said Fanja coach Hicham Al Jadran, whose team beat Al Nahda 2-1 in an Omani League match on Sunday.
“We will try our best to continue our run in the competition and qualify to the quarter-finals.
“Al Qadsia are a strong team and they have great experience in the competition which means that the match will be very hard for us. However, I trust the abilities of our players which helped us to qualify for this round.”