Enes Sipovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina has already made an impact with QNB Stars League side Umm Salal ever since he joined them in this year’s January transfer window from his native club Zeljeznicar Sarajevo.

Enes, a strong presence in Umm Salal’s defence, speaks to qsl.qa in an Exclusive Interview, as The Orange Fortress are trying hard to keep their position in the top flight with only five matches remaining in the 2019-20 league that is set to resume on 24th July following a long break forced by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Excerpts:

How do you rate Umm Salal’s performance so far in the QNB Stars League?

I’ve been following the QNB Stars League even before I arrived here and I think this isn’t the position (11th with 14 points) in the table, where Umm Salal should be.

Don’t you think that Umm Salal have performed below expectations?

I arrived here in December and I can’t review the work people had done before. From the moment coach Aziz Ben Askar and the club administration started rebuilding the side, we’ve been putting up nice performances. In a short period of time, we regained the club’s reputation to some extent.

You’re new to Qatar. What do you think of the level of QNB Stars League?

The QNB Stars League is tough and whoever thinks it’s easy to play here, he’s wrong. Even players with big names must work hard to stay afloat.

How’s your training going on now in the wake of coronavirus disease?

Coronavirus has disturbed us a little bit. This is the first experience with online training sessions and devices, and it’s not easy especially for coaches, but we’ve no choice. We’re now moving forward with our restricted training.

What’s your training schedule like? How do you stay fit and get ready for the action?

After the vacation and Covid-19 test, we stayed for two weeks in the team hotel. During that time, we trained individually and focused on improving our physique. Now, the training is more about technique even though we adhere to precautions. We hope to be match-ready after playing some friendly games.

How do you look forward to the times ahead?

We avoid close contacts in all sorts of training, especially while stretching. We don’t stay in the gym together either. At a time, it’ll be a maximum of only four or five players in the gym. We come for training fully equipped from home. However, I hope we’ll soon come back to normal life.

You’ve experience playing in the Romanian, Belgian and Bosnian leagues. How do you view it?

All of those leagues are special in their own ways. I came to professional football at a very young age. When I compare all those leagues with the QNB Stars League, none of them has the infrastructure like that in Qatar. This is the best place for football. Organisation at the federation and clubs in Qatar is at the top level. I’m looking forward to extend my career here.