Al Gharafa Head Coach Péricles Chamusca
“I have seen Mesaimeer in the last game. We know that Gharafa has good players and our quality is better than Mesaimeer. But a football match is 90 minutes and played on the field, not on paper. Mesaimeer have a few players who had played with me when I was coach of Jaish. The players know how to keep the ball and create chances. I will try to reduce spaces for them and not give them an opportunity to create these chances. I have worked with the team to prepare them for the dangers that Mesaimeer can pose.”
 
“When I took over the reins at Arabi, we had to resolve a lot of problems. They were in the relegation zone for the two years before my arrival. We produced some good results and managed a top-4 result. With Jaish it was different. They were coming from the second division but they had invested a lot of money. The only reason why I didn't win the title with Jaish was probable because Anderson joined late. We were eighth before Anderson arrived but after he came we were behind Lekhwiya by just one point. “

Gharafa is a big team. They haven't done well in the past 3-4 seasons. But they have good players, players with experience and quality. It's a team that is rebuilding and keen to get back to where they belong. Our target now is to reach the top 4. And if you reach the top 4 you can start to thinking about the title.”



 
Mesaimeer Head Coach Rodion Gačanin
“We lost the first match against Sadd who are a very strong team. Gharafa is also a strong team, stronger than they were last year. I hope that we play better football than we did in our last match.”


“There is absolutely no giving up on our part. Our aim is to take 14-15 points in the first half of the season. We might not get points in the first two matches but we will get to our target. We are all professional - players, coaches and management. We will not give up. We believe that we can do well in this league.”

“If we have better quality of players that we can bring in, then it will benefit us for sure. We are a little bit slow as a team currently. One of the big issues right now is the transition from midfield to the attack. But I am hoping that in the next few days the management will bring in a few new players to address this issue.”