The Air Force coach calls for improved results in the AFC Elite Champions League

Fathi Al-Jabal, the technical director of the Iraqi Air Force team, expressed his hope that his team will achieve a good start in the AFC Champions League for elite football, when it is a guest of the Uzbek team Neftchi, indicating that he wants the team’s results to improve during its participation in the competition.

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya will meet its host Neftchi, on Monday, in the opening round of the Western Region competitions in the continental competition, at the Istiklal Stadium in Fergana, where the Iraqi team is suffering from its lackluster start in the local league this season, as it is in thirteenth place with 7 points, after playing its first seven matches in the tournament, which won the title last season.

Al-Jabal said in the press conference he held, on Sunday, to talk about tomorrow’s match: “We received a warm welcome from the Nevechi Club, which provided us with its stadium, and we thank it very much for that.”

The Tunisian coach added: “We did not start the Iraqi league well this season, and we want to improve our results in this tournament, and we believe that we will be able to make our fans happy tomorrow.”

Al-Jabal explained: “We followed the Nevechi team well, and we analyzed its players individually, and this is a normal thing that all clubs do before facing their competitors. All the teams participating in the AFC Elite Champions League are at a very good level, and getting the three points away from home will be very important for us.”

The Air Force coach pointed out: “The Iraqi Football Association did not agree to our request to postpone the Al-Zawraa match in the local league. Therefore, we arrived in Uzbekistan in three batches, but this matter will not affect our level in the match at all, and we will make every effort on the field.”

Al-Jabal stressed: “Neftichi is a strong team like the rest of our competitors, and I cannot say that there is a stronger team than the other. All the teams participating in the AFC Elite Champions League are really strong.”

He continued: “We suffer from many absences. We will miss a large number of our players tomorrow, but that cannot be an excuse for us. We will do our best, and I believe we have players capable of filling in for those absent.”

Al-Jabal concluded his statements by saying: “We know that Nefichi registered a Brazilian defender and an attacking midfielder to strengthen his ranks in the tournament, and we also realize that the competitor’s market value is 3 times the value of our team. They have a large number of good players, but my team also includes distinguished players, and we are not afraid of them. All matters will be resolved on the field.”

Brazilian Andre Jardin, coach of the UAE's Shabab Al-Ahly team, said that his team has the ambition and capabilities necessary to achieve its best performance in the AFC Champions League for Elite Football.

Shabab Al-Ahly will meet with Iranian Traktor, on Monday, in the first round of the league stage of the competition, which reached the semi-finals of the competition last season, before losing to Machida Zelvia of Japan.

Jardine said, in the press conference before the match, that the assessment of the team’s performance at this early stage of the season is not correct, pointing out that there are many injuries in the team, and confirming the readiness of Shabab Al-Ahly to face Tractor.

The Shabab Al-Ahly coach added that his team gave a strong performance in its first three matches in the current season of the UAE League Championship, before losing one match and drawing the other.

He continued that it is too early to pass judgment on the team, noting that he and his supporting staff were forced to rethink the shape of the team as a whole due to the large number of injuries, stressing that these matters cause very natural imbalances and are part of the long season.

The Brazilian coach explained that the team needs some luck in the decisive moments of the matches it plays in order for the good levels to be translated into results.

Jardine said that his team's ambitions go beyond just obtaining one championship, stressing that Shabab Al-Ahly will work hard to reach the position that suits it.

For his part, Yahya Al-Ghassani, the team’s player, said that Shabab Al-Ahly is constantly working to develop its level and prepare for the important matches of the current season.

He added that facing Tractor will not be easy at all, especially since the competitor is very strong and Shabab Al-Ahly has faced him before, pointing out his team's need for continuous focus and work to address mistakes.

The Libyan Swehli team qualified for the second preliminary round (qualifying for the group stage) in the CAF Champions League.

Al-Suwaihli defeated its host KVZ, champions of Zanzibar, 3-0, on Sunday, in the second leg of the first preliminary round of the continental competition, repeating its victory over its rival, after previously defeating it 1-0 in the first leg, so that its qualification to the next round was well-deserved.

The goals of the match came in the second half. John Otto opened the scoring for Al-Suwaihli in the 69th minute, while his colleague Mohamed Sola added the second goal for the Libyan team in the 75th minute.

The Zanzibar champion's suffering doubled, after he played with ten players after one of his players was sent off in the 86th minute, before Al-Suwaihli added the third goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time instead of stoppage time for the second half.

With that result, Al-Suwaihli set an all-Arab date with Esperance of Tunisia, champion of the competition in 1994, 2011, 2018 and 2019, who was exempted from participating in the first preliminary round, in order to reserve a seat in the group stage of the most important and strongest tournament at the club level in the African continent.