Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 2 match against Al Markhiya.

“We played a strong and big match against Qatar SC in the first round and it was a good match and witnessed eight goals in addition to many goalscoring opportunities for the two teams. We had a wonderful reaction. We gave everything we had and I am happy about that and that is how football is.

“Al Markhiya have a good team and I know many of them who played in the Portuguese league before. I believe that Al Markhiya this season are very different from what it was last season and they have good players and a good coach.

“Contracting with Seydou Sano is important as he is a good player, whom I followed in the Under-21 African Cup and Under-20 World Cup. He joined the team and we will see if he is ready for the match or not and we are waiting for him to develop better.

“The league this season is difficult for everyone because all teams have prepared well and have distinguished players, and I believe that the league will develop for the better. Our goal during the current season is to be among the top four and we will fight for that goal and we have what it takes to achieve it.

“The most important thing for us is that we have changed a lot of things in our team and I feel now that the spirit is there and the players are hungry, especially since many of them have never won anything,” said Martins.

Al Gharafa player Amro Seraj said, “Our players are ready for the Al Markhiya match after the draw with Qatar SC. The team presented a good match and the players were fully focused from start to finish.

“It will be the same against Al Markhiya and we will implement the coach’s instructions to achieve victory. I thank our fans for their support in the Qatar SC match.”