Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira spoke to the media ahead of their Qatar Cup final against Al Duhail.

“This is the sixth final Al Sadd are playing under me and we hope this is going to be in favour of us. We are facing a strong team not only in Qatar, perhaps the strongest in Asia as can be made out from Al Duhail’s results in the AFC Champions league. That is why we are preparing in the best possible way.

“We are also counting on the support of our fans. They will support us like anything and that is an advantage for us. Last season was very good for us. We finished runners-up in the league and won the Qatar Cup and Emir’s Cup. This season was also not bad for us.

“We had beaten Al Duhail in the season-opening Sheikh Jassim Cup even though we lost in both phases of the QNB Stars League. But then, in the second-phase match, we almost won, but for the two last-gasp goals. Before that face-off, the difference between the two teams was only two points. We had faced some difficulties in the first phase, such as injuries to key players and national-team duties.

“Against Al Duhail, it is going to be very tough. They have won the league competition with an unbeaten record and won all group matches in the AFC Champions League. I do not think much about the future. I am focused on the assignment on hand.

“As far the Video Assistant Referee system, I am all for technology that assists the game and impacts the end result in a better way. VAR should help us avoid many blunders like those happened in the past,” said Ferreira.

Al Sadd’s ace striker Baghdad Bounedjah said, “This game is going to be different from the league matches. I hope all my team-mates will rise to the big occasion. We will do everything we can to retain the cup. Al Duhail are strong, so are we. They keep scoring many goals in most of the matches, so we will defend well.”