“Al Shahaniya are not Barcelona but they play with a great deal of passion and confidence. They have sent out a warning to the other teams in the Emir Cup.” 

These are not the words of Al Shahaniya coach Luka Bonacic speaking – in fact he did not even turn up at his team’s press conference ahead of today’s Emir Cup quarter final tie against Qatar Sports Club. These are the words of Radhi Shenaishil, the Qatar Sports Club coach, who took sportsmanship to a new level by singing the praises of his rival team on the eve of a do-or-die match.

 Obviously Shenaishil is too polite to play mind games – or it could be that he was too wary of saying anything that could be construed as a boast, especially after his team were thrashed 5-0 by Lekhwiya in the semi-finals of the Qatar Cup.

His respect for Al Shahaniya’s stems from their encouraging showing in the preliminary rounds of the Emir Cup during which they knocked out Al Kharatiyat and Al Gharafa. “They are a dangerous side,” Shenaishil continued. “In fact, except for three or four top sides, the other teams in Qatar are more or less of the same level. Matches in Cup tournaments not produce logical results, they are full of surprises.”

Shenaishil is no stranger to the Emir Cup, having played in the tournament when he was a player with Al Sadd and Qatar Sports Club. “Of course, we have to forget our result against Lekhwiya in the Qatar Cup. The results affected us negatively. We need to show a strong reaction. It’s a knockout game and you need to be perfect with your strategy as you don’t get a second chance,” added Shenaishil.

The former Iraq defender however was confident his team would put up a good show today. “We missed a few key players during our Qatar Cup semi-final against Lekhwiya. However, most of them are now fully fit and raring to go against Shahaniya.