Umm Salal coach Patrice Carteron spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 9 match against Al Wakrah.

“We know that the match against Al Wakrah will be strong and difficult, so we worked hard during training, and we are entering strongly in order to achieve a positive result, especially since the team is fully prepared for this match, which is one of the important matches for us.

“Umm Salal are ranked fifth in the league table so far, and this position is very good, and we must be positive and understand that every match we play represents a big challenge for us to try to stay in this position. It can also be said that the matter is close between the teams, so this match is important for us because it is against a strong competitor, and I expect that we will achieve a positive result despite the difficulty of the match."

“Al Wakrah are one of the strong teams that have occupied the first places in several seasons, so we will enter the match with high focus, discipline and great confidence in order to implement what is required, and even return with one or three points.

“We will seek to recover the points we lost before and I know that we will play against a team that performs well, and facing them is not easy at all. We expect there to be a positive reaction against Al Wakrah, and I know that the match is not easy. I hope there will be a strong reaction from the attackers, especially since we missed opportunities in recent matches. Retreat is part of the season and all teams go through these circumstances. But what makes me happy is that the team spirit is always there and we never give up. We will be without striker Kenji Gorre due to his red card,” said Carteron.

Umm Salal player Khalifa Al Malki said, “The team’s atmosphere was very serious in order to prepare for the match against Al Wakrah. We all know that it is a strong and important match, and we must win. We hope to be technically and physically ready to get three points.

“We must focus on ourselves and be fully prepared for Al Wakrah, and enter the match strongly in order to win.”