Italian coach Simone Inzaghi of Al Hilal confirmed that a difficult and important confrontation awaits them against Al-Ittihad, describing it as a Saudi Classico.
Inzaghi said in the press conference that preceded the match: It is a match against the Saudi Football Clasico, and it is very important. It brings together the first and second-place finishers, and we are ready for the match, especially after the return of the international players.
He added: After the last training session, we will see the readiness of all the players. Salem Al-Dosari and Theo Hernandez participated in training in the past three days, and as for those returning from the Saudi national team, we will evaluate their condition after today’s training to find out the extent of their readiness to play the match.
Regarding Nasser Al-Dosari’s outstanding performance in the Gulf Championship, he said: Nasser is a great player and a respected star, and last season he suffered an injury that affected him, but I am happy now with the performance he is providing, and I am also happy with the wonderful appearance of Mohammed Al-Owais in the Gulf Cup, and he is one of the important players who make the difference.
Regarding the possibility of Salem Al-Dosari, the team leader, participating in the Al-Ittihad match after recovering from injury and returning to training, he said: Salem Al-Dossari is very enthusiastic in training after his return from injury, and today after training we will see the possibility of his presence as a main player or on the bench.
Regarding the pressure of the matches awaiting his team this month, Inzaghi replied: The pressure facing all teams in the coming period, and we will evaluate together with the technical staff the performance of the players in the upcoming matches, to know the management of confrontations in light of the successive matches.
Inzaghi extended his congratulations to the Saudi national team after winning the Gulf Cup, saying: I congratulate Al-Akhdar on winning the title, and specifically Denis because he is a great and wonderful coach, and I also congratulate all the players on winning the title.
Croatian Marino Pusic, Al-Ahly coach, stressed the importance of rotating players in the next stage, in light of the pressure of matches locally and continentally, noting that he rested a number of his members during the last confrontation, in preparation for the next match against Al-Wasl, UAE.
Pusic said that the technical staff takes the pressure of matches into account when dealing with the readiness of the players, explaining: “Today I rested a number of players to deal with the upcoming pressures, and we have a match against Al-Wasl of the UAE in two days, and our next opponent is difficult and I know his capabilities, so I took into account the principle of rotation.”
Al-Ahly coach expressed his happiness with the positive return of the team after the hiatus, stressing that the players gave a distinguished performance despite the absence of a number of essential elements due to their international connections with their country’s national teams.
He added: “During the pause, we worked with the players we had, despite the absence of a group of stars, and yet we achieved a distinguished start after returning.”
Pusic pointed to the difficulties that his team faced during the recent period, in light of the crowded match schedule, saying: “Al-Ahly played about 10 matches under great pressure, considering that the team deserved better results in a number of confrontations, but it did not succeed in achieving them.”
