Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 4 match against Al Shamal.

“In view of the absence of a large number of players who were with the national teams, a group of young players participated with us in the previous training sessions. This week was very good as Mohammed Muntari, Ahmed Al Janahi and Rabeh Yahya joined the training sessions, and that was a good thing.

“Now we almost have no problems with injuries, and this is a good thing for us, and then we have more solutions on the bench.

“Al Shamal started the season very well and won against a very good team like Al Sadd before losing the last two matches in the league, but I see that they are a good team, they try to play equally against any team, and this is what we expect. It is an important match for us. I want to remind my players that there is no room to think about the AFC Champions League because we have an important match in the league on Friday.

“It is true that the Champions League is important, but we also have a big goal in the league, so everyone must understand that if we do not play well on Friday, I am sure that we cannot do so in the Champions League. I am comfortable in this regard because we know our responsibility and we know the importance of this match against Al Shamal.

“I want to tell our fans that the level of our matches will improve after all the players returned, although some of them have not yet reached full readiness, but we are a strong team. I am very happy with the group, we are ready,” said Martins.

Al Gharafa player Jamal Hamad said, “I feel that the players are in good mental and physical condition and the team has been working very well since the beginning of the season. As everyone knows, the league is very long and we have to work every week to prepare for each match with the same mentality in all matches because we know that we are Al Gharafa team and we know the place we deserve to be in. We deserve to be at the top and this is what we are working for.

“We have to continue playing as we always do and we know that we have many matches ahead of us. We have to know how to deal with this matter, so that we all give our best performance on the field.”