Al-Qadisiyah coach feels excited to face Al-Sadd of Qatar

Brendan Rodgers, coach of Al-Qadisiyah, confirmed his enthusiasm for facing Al-Sadd Qatar in the third round of the group stage of the AFC Elite Champions League.

Rodgers said in the press conference before the confrontation: “We are eagerly awaiting this match, especially since it is a special competition for us. “Being our first participation, we started well.”

He added: “Tomorrow we will play on our home soil and among our fans, and we aspire to provide the best performance against a very strong team that requires us to provide a distinguished level to achieve victory, and currently we are focusing on recovery after facing Al Hilal.”

He continued: “We always focus on our team, and I am excited to see some of our players who have been performing great in training over the past period and did not get a chance... In football, if an opportunity comes to you, you must take advantage of it, and the lack of players creates a challenge, but the most important thing is always the spirit of the group.”

Regarding his technical reading of the strength of the next competitor, he explained: “Al-Sadd have high quality, but I am sure that we will cause them problems... All teams have quality and excellent coaches, and we will respect the opponent as we always do, and our goal is to play every match with our character.”

Rodgers concluded his statements by saying: “We played an excellent match against Al-Hilal, although we did not get the result we wanted, and in the world of football you always look for opportunities... A difficult match awaits us against Al-Sadd, and everyone is very excited for this confrontation.”

Muhammad Abu Al-Shamat, Al-Qadisiyah player, confirmed that the team was seeking to make his club’s fans happy and compensate them for the recent loss to Al-Hilal, during preparations for facing Al-Sadd of Qatar in the third round of the group stage of the AFC Champions League for the elite.

Abu Al-Shamat said during the press conference before the Al-Sadd match: “We are ready for tomorrow’s match and we aspire to compensate our fans for the recent loss. The players are fully prepared to take on the challenges in the four tournaments under the leadership of our coach, and, God willing, we will make our fans happy tomorrow.”

Abu Al-Shamat explained the secret of the high ceiling of expectations and the size of the responsibility placed on the team: “The players’ giving on the field is what raised the ambitions of our fans.”

He concluded: “We have great faith in each other and in the future of this club, and we will do everything we can to live up to these aspirations.”

The Asian Football Confederation announced, on Sunday, the postponement of the confrontation between Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia and Al-Wasl of the United Arab Emirates, which was scheduled to be held on Monday, October 26, 2026, at King Saud University Stadium in the capital, Riyadh, as part of the league stage competitions for the Western Region in the AFC Elite Champions League.

The Continental Federation explained, in an official statement issued from its headquarters in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, that the match will be held at a later date, provided that the new date and timing of the start of the confrontation will be determined and announced at the appropriate time.

Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Saudi Football Federation, in coordination with Al-Nasr Club, completed all the necessary and usual arrangements and equipment to receive the UAE Al-Wasl delegation, and provided all requirements related to the team’s arrival in the capital, Riyadh, including official permits for its arrival and organizational and logistical procedures, in preparation for the confrontation scheduled for Monday in the elite AFC Champions League competitions.

The refereeing team and the match observer assigned by the Asian Football Confederation arrived in Riyadh, while the Emirati Al-Wasl delegation did not arrive until Sunday afternoon.