Al Gharafa take on Al Sailiya in round twenty-three of the QSL. The match will be played at the Al Gharafa stadium on Thursday.

Al Gharafa senior football team head coach Pedro Caxinia commented on the upcoming match versus Al Sailiya and said: “We are aware of the importance of this game. We are also aware that we are 5 points away from the top four teams.”


He added during the pre-match press conference: “The victory over Al Rayyan and the improvement in performance gives the players self-confidence to prepare well for the Al Sailiyah game. It is a team which we know well as they defeated us in the first leg fixture.”
The Al Gharafa head coach indicated that his side is going through a good phase which they are trying to keep.

Any stoppage may have negative impact on the team. He said, “this is the competition calendar of the QFA which we totally respect. We will have some players that will join the Qatar National Team while we have some young players, whom we should give the priority during that period beside the foreign players.”

Al Sailiyah head coach, Sami Trabelsi also indicated the importance of the coming game versus Al Gharafa.

He said during the pre-match press conference, “We have to overcome and forget the defeat in the previous Round 22 to Lekhwiya. Al Gharafa is a good and disciplined team. They have many young players which makes them special not like the other teams.” Trabelsi assured that the three points from this game are very vital in order to improve the standing in the league table which will reflect on the Emir Cup draw.

The Tunisian tactician pointed out that the team is still in danger, but there are also discrepancies in the other teams’ performances. He added, “We have witnessed Al Sadd being knocked out of the AFC Champions League and Lekhwiya tied against the last team in the Saudi League. We are working on moving forward from this risky position.”