Qatar- Al Rayyan, Al Sailiya all set in quest for Ooredoo Cup glory

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Al Rayyan and Al Sailiya are all set for the 2020-21 Ooredoo Cup final, which will be held at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday. Al Rayyan qualified for the final after defeating Al Gharafa 3-0 during the semi-final match, during which Ivorian Yohan Poli scored the first two goals, while Mohamed Jumaa scored the third, to reach the title round. Al Sailiya reached the final after the Qatar Football Association Disciplinary Committee decided a 3-0 defeat for Al Wakrah, after the latter fielded Jassim al-Jalabi in the match despite his absence from the team sheet. The committee decision, which also included a fine on Al Wakrah, came about after Al Sailiya protested al-Jalabi's participation in the match. Both the teams will be without players who are on national duty but the two coaches Al Sailiya's Sami Trabelsi and Al Rayyan's Laurent Blanc will be looking inspire their respective teams to a major cup victory. Trabelsi said, 'It will definitely be a strong match against Al Rayyan. We see it as an opportunity to correct the situation and appear better, and improve results that have not gone well for us in the recent period. 'Al Rayyan are an excellent and balanced team that is going through a good period with good results as they have very high-level players. And since the arrival of coach Laurent Blanc, their team has shown how to advance to the top four in the league. 'We have prepared well for the match and are focused on the psychological aspect of a game like this because the team does not suffer technically, but rather on the mental side only. We know that lack of focus from players was seen in many matches we have played recently. As a result, we committed mistakes that cost the team many goals. 'Being in the final is an opportunity to compete for an important title and achieve the first championship trophy in the history of Al Sailiya club. Al Sailiya will rely on the expertise of Muhannad Ali, Thiago Queiroz, Ahmed Hammoudan, Majdi Siddiq, Nadir Belhadj, Mustafa Abdel Hamid, Sergeen Mboudji, goalkeeper Claude Amin, and other players, while Al Rayyan's ranks include Yacine Brahimi, Frank Com, Ahmed Abdel-Maqsoud, Gabriel Mercado, Mohamed Alaa, Abdel-Rahman Al-Harazi, and goalkeeper Fahd Younes. Al Sailiya had beaten Al Rayyan in the league match 2-0, and the latter will be looking to settle that debt with a title win. Blanc said, 'The outcome of the match against Al Sailiya cannot be predicted, but our ambition is to win the Ooredoo Cup. We know the difficulty my team faces against Al Sailiya in the final. 'My team has prepared well for the match. As always, we are preparing all players for any clash in the best way possible, both technically and physically. My team went through training with full force in the last period to reach the best possible readiness. All players are ready to play the match with the exception of national team players who are in Hungary for the European qualifiers for 2022 FIFA World Cup.      MENAFN25032021000067011011ID1101812499