Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins spoke to the media ahead of their 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League Week 9 match against Qatar SC.

“The team continues to work well for this very important match and it is important to achieve victory.

“Despite the loss to Al Duhail, there were positive things in that match, especially in the first half during which we had three goalscoring opportunities, but not taking advantage of them was the negative thing in the match. Other than that, we suffered after the second goal of Al Duhail and the team was mentally affected, which led to a decline in performance.

“This is what we must change and what I expect from our players on Wednesday, especially since we will face a strong team that has brought in new players, and it is very important to win this game. Everyone must understand the magnitude of responsibility in the next match against Qatar SC,” said Martins.

Al Gharafa captain Othman Al Yahri said, “All players know the importance of the match and we are ready for it, realizing its importance and difficulty. Thank God, all the training sessions were positive.

“Thank God, I started participating gradually after an injury-enforced break and I am currently ready in a way to participate in matches at any time the coach needs me.

“I would also like to thank the Al Gharafa fans for greeting me when I played against Al Duhail at the end of the match because I did not have the opportunity to greet them.

“Our level (against Al Duhail) was not so bad as the result of the match ended, and if we look at the match, we find that we were the best in the first half hour and we were supposed to score one or two goals and we did not succeed. After that the first goal came to Al Duhail and there was a drop in morale. In the second half, and at the time when we had to come back into the match, they took the initiative to score a second goal from a direct free-kick.”