Al Rayyan coach Leonardo Jardim and player Thiago Mendes spoke to the media ahead of their Qatar Cup 2024 semifinal against Al Gharafa.

“We are ready to face Al Gharafa. Our goals are the same as the goals of other teams, which are to achieve victory and qualify for the Qatar Cup final and compete for the title. This match is a continuation of the competition between the two teams who fought a lot during the season, and the competition was strong between us in the last stages of the league.

“It will be an exciting match in the semifinals of the Qatar Cup 2024. We have a lot of respect for the Al Gharafa team, but our goal is to reach the final match.

“Everyone must know that playing for Al Rayyan club in itself gives a person great morale, and we succeeded in defeating Al Sadd, who won the league title, in our match. But every match has a special character and the team’s ambition does not change, which is to always win.

“Cup matches are different from the league. In the past period, there has been a great development for the team. We succeeded in winning a number of matches, especially against Al Sadd, who won the league title, so the team is ready for this strong game.

“I hope the fans will come and encourage the team in the Al Gharafa match. We saw a large number of fans this season, especially in the Al Arabi match, so I hope they will attend strongly in this match because the team needs them. We will try to make them happy by winning.

“The team is fully prepared, with the exception of some players returning from injury, such as Abdulaziz Hatem,” said Jardim.

Thiago Mendes said, “The goal is to beat Al Gharafa in the semifinals, reach the final match and win the Qatar Cup 2024. Everyone saw the level that Al Rayyan presented in the league championship, so our goal is to win the Qatar Cup.

“We did a great job with the team during this season and we know that the competition in this tournament is different from the league. We are looking forward to providing the best and resolving the game in our favour to advance to the final.”