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<strong>Al Gharafa Head Coach Péricles Chamusca</strong><br />
“I have seen Mesaimeer in the last game. We know that Gharafa has good players and our quality is better than Mesaimeer. But a football match is 90 minutes and played on the field, not on paper. Mesaimeer have a few players who had played with me when I was coach of Jaish. The players know how to keep the ball and create chances. I will try to reduce spaces for them and not give them an opportunity to create these chances. I have worked with the team to prepare them for the dangers that Mesaimeer can pose.”<br />
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“When I took over the reins at Arabi, we had to resolve a lot of problems. They were in the relegation zone for the two years before my arrival. We produced some good results and managed a top-4 result. With Jaish it was different. They were coming from the second division but they had invested a lot of money. The only reason why I didn't win the title with Jaish was probable because Anderson joined late. We were eighth before Anderson arrived but after he came we were behind Lekhwiya by just one point. “<br />
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Gharafa is a big team. They haven't done well in the past 3-4 seasons. But they have good players, players with experience and quality. It's a team that is rebuilding and keen to get back to where they belong. Our target now is to reach the top 4. And if you reach the top 4 you can start to thinking about the title.”<br />
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<strong>Mesaimeer Head Coach Rodion Gačanin</strong><br />
“We lost the first match against Sadd who are a very strong team. Gharafa is also a strong team, stronger than they were last year. I hope that we play better football than we did in our last match.”<br />
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“There is absolutely no giving up on our part. Our aim is to take 14-15 points in the first half of the season. We might not get points in the first two matches but we will get to our target. We are all professional - players, coaches and management. We will not give up. We believe that we can do well in this league.”<br />
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“If we have better quality of players that we can bring in, then it will benefit us for sure. We are a little bit slow as a team currently. One of the big issues right now is the transition from midfield to the attack. But I am hoping that in the next few days the management will bring in a few new players to address this issue.”<br />