Al Wakrah coach Poya Asbaghi spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 21 match against Al Gharafa.

“We achieved a good result in our last match against Umm Salal, but that match is now in the past. Therefore, we have turned the page on this issue and focused on the last two matches as well as Amir Cup.

“I believe the team’s psychological state has improved significantly after the recent victory against Umm Salal, especially since we entered that match as the most important match of a difficult season. I am very happy that we demonstrated a strong mentality when we needed it the most.

“Al Gharafa are a strong team with high-quality players and technical staff. They are in the top four due to their individual and collective abilities, especially in the forward line. They have outstanding players in all positions. We know the magnitude of the challenge of playing against a team like Al Gharafa, but we also know their weaknesses, and we hope to be able to exploit these points well,” said Asbaghi.

Al Wakrah player Aissa Laidouni said, “The good preparations ahead of our match against Al Gharafa confirm the team’s ability to overcome this obstacle, achieve victory and continue the victories.

“We will enter this match looking for the three points and we only want a victory that will help us occupy a higher position in the standings. I personally feel very optimistic about our ability to achieve this goal, given the great enthusiasm I witnessed in recent training sessions.”