Al Sailiya, who will face Al Duhail in the 2020 Qatar Cup’s first semifinal, are playing in the tournament’s sixth edition for the second time, after 2014. The kick-off is at the Al Sadd Stadium at 19:30 on 10th January.

Al Sailiya made it to the Qatar Cup after finishing a creditable third, behind Al Sadd and Al Duhail in that order, in the 2018-19 QNB Stars League. They achieved their highest-ever standing in the Qatar league through hard work, perseverance and diligence combined with technical stability.

Above all, Al Sailiya reaped the rewards for putting up consistent performances. The Peregrines ended up on 38 points (12 wins, two draws and eight defeats). They had a goal difference of 12, having scored 38 goals and conceded 26.

Stability was their forte and the players exhibited excellent team spirit and harmony.

The team management yet again reposed faith on long-standing coach Sami Trabelsi and that was a key factor as they recorded many positive results. The Tunisian is now into his seventh season with Al Sailiya.

Trabelsi succeeded in finding players, a good mix of youth and experience. All that resulted in the team’s good performance that earned them another berth in the prestigious Qatar Cup and play-off place in the 2020 AFC Champions League, for the first time in their history.

Al Sailiya started off the 2018-19 QNB Stars League by losing 1-2 to Umm Salal. But that made them highly alert as they worked on their areas for improvement.

The team retained most of their Qatari players, including Majdi Siddiq, Hamad Al Abidi, Maher Yousef and Abdulqadir Ilyas, while others like Algerian Nadir Belhadj, who has great experience, continued.

Al Sailiya’s other prominent players this season include Iranian Karim Ansari and Mostafa Mohamed.