The Qatari team Al-Sadd, the Saudi team Al-Hilal, and the Iraqi team Al-Shorta reached the quarter-finals of King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs 2023
The Qatari team Al-Sadd, the Saudi team Al-Hilal, the Saudi team Al-Ittihad and the Iraqi team Al-Shorta qualified for the quarter-finals of King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs 2023, after the conclusion of the first and second groups, on Wednesday.
In the second group, Al-Sadd defeated Al-Shorta, with agoal scored by the player Paolo Ottavio, to raise its score to 7 points at the top of the standings.
In the same group, Al-Hilal defeated Moroccan team Wydad 2-1, with goals scored by Savic and Ruben Neves, while Wydad’s goal came through Saif Al-Din Bohra, raising the Saudi team’s score to 4 points in second place behind Al-Sadd.
In the first group, a goalless draw settled the result of the match between Tunisian teams Esperance and Sfaxien, while Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Shorta, 2-1, as Ahmed Bamasoud and Karim Benzema scored for the Saudi team, while Al-Shorta’s goal came through Boubaker Abdel Majeed.
With these results, Al-Ittihad leads the group standings table with 9 points, followed by Al-Shorta with 4 points, and they qualified together to the quarter-finals.
4 matches at the end of the group stage tomorrow, Thursday
Tomorrow, Thursday, the group stage of King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs 2023 will be completed, as 4 matches will be held in the third and fourth groups.
In the fourth group, the Algerian team CR Belouizdad will play with the Kuwaiti team Kuwait, and the Emirati team Al-Wahda with the Moroccan team Raja in Abha, at 4 pm in KSA time.
In the third group, the Egyptian team Zamalek will play with the Saudi team Al-Nassr in Taif, and the Saudi team Al-Shabab will face the Tunisian team US Monastir, in Al-Bahah, at 6 pm.
Coaches press conferences
On Wednesday, press conferences were held for the coaches of Group C teams, to talk about the latest preparations for the final round matches of the group stage.
Zamalek coach Juan Carlos Osorio said: “We will face a strong opponent, who has very great capabilities. Al-Nassr includes players qualified to play with the best European teams, including those who won the Golden Ball or competed for it in some years, and the match is a wonderful opportunity for us to compete against teams of this level”. We faced Al-Shabab and it was a strong and formidable opponent, we presented outstanding levels and we deserved a better result”.
He added: “We have a great chance to win and qualify if we play with the same spirit that we showed against the Tunisian team US Monastir and the Saudi team Al-Shabab. We will not face Cristiano Ronaldo or Sadio Mane alone. It is a team-against-team match. Certainly there will be special dealings with Ronaldo inside the penalty area, but we will not be through a specific defender, and the player closest to him will assume the task, and by following Al-Nassr’s matches, I assure you that Anderson Talisca is never less than Ronaldo, despite my recognition that he is one of the best players in the world”.
He concluded: “I hope that Mane will participate in the starting line-up to give Zamalek players an additional motivation to perform at distinguished levels, in front of Sadio, Cristiano, Talisca and other world football stars, which is a wonderful opportunity for us.”
Sayed Abdullah, Zamalek player, said: “We presented distinguished levels against Al-Shabab despite the loss, and God willing, we will compensate for the defeat, starting with Al-Nassr’s match, which includes players at the highest level and is still signing distinguished players, the latest of which is Sadio Mane and before him Cristiano Ronaldo, but we are fully prepared to play the match, especially since Zamalek is one of the strongest African teams”.
Tariq Al-Jani, coach of the Tunisian team US Monastir, revealed the secret of his team’s stumbling and its exit from the group stage, saying: “We suffered from a lack of preparation and elements and lack of sufficient experience. We aspired to achieve better results, but I pledge to the fans to come out with a positive result in front of the Saudi team Al-Shabab”.
He added: “We lost the first two matches due to the lack of harmony between the players who joined the ranks of the team recently. We strive to do our best in front of Al-Shabab, and we are well aware of the strength of the opponent, which includes players with high technical levels”.
On the other hand, Wael Othman, player of the Tunisian team, expressed his great sadness after his team’s exit from the tournament in the first round, indicating that they did not have success during the first two rounds, stressing: “The time was not enough to prepare, we bear the loss in the first two rounds, and we will play against Al-Shabab in the name of our club and its great history, and this matter makes us do our best, and we aspire to do the best in the match”.
On the other hand, Marcel Kaiser, the Al-Shabab coach, stressed the strength of competition in this version of the tournament, pointing out that it is witnessing a distinguished presence from the strongest Arab teams, adding: “We will play a difficult match against Us Monastir, which is a strong competitor and we aspire to win against it. We need to perform better to win the game”.
He concluded: “The most important thing is to win and qualify for the quarter-finals. US Monastir may change the way it plays after its exit from the tournament. In any case, our goal is victory. I try to present my team the best from one match to another and reach the second round”.
Saad Al-Muwallid, Al-Shabab player, said: “Our match against US Monastir will be very difficult, but we as players are fully prepared, and I hope that we will be successful and get the 3 points to ensure qualification for the quarter-finals”.
Luis Castro, the Saudi team Al-Nassr coach, said, “Facing Zamalek is equally important for both teams. Football is always under pressure, and it is absolutely no different from other areas of life, and we always try to do our best”.
He added about Zamalek: “They have a strong team and play in a distinguished team, reducing the spaces in front of the opponent. Its players fight for every ball and are not afraid of friction. A team that plays with great spirit on the field, and showed its quality in the first two rounds. It has players capable of making a difference like Mahmoud Abdel Razek, who is a distinguished player and creates a state of balance and threatens the opponent’s goal in every attack, but in the end I don’t focus on a specific player, because football is a team game”.
He added: “I am well aware that the arrival of players like Sadio Mane attracts attention to us, but in the end we are a collective team, and there is no team in the world that depends on a specific player. Mane is a global name, but he will not lead Al-Nassr alone. Football teams are built on a complete group and teamwork. People think that having Mane with us enhances our chances of winning, but football is not like that, and every team needs more than one player to build a strong generation”.
Sico Fofana, Al-Nassr player, stressed his team’s readiness to face Zamalek, adding: “We have the capabilities that qualify us to achieve a positive result and present distinguished levels, and we are fully prepared for any pressure in the match”.
