Al Ahli take on Al Sadd in crucial Group D encounter

Dubai: An under-strength Al Sadd is looking at maximum points as they face Dubai's Al Ahli in their Group D encounter of the AFC Champions League here later Wednesday night.

"We will put our best eleven on the field and we would expect them to deliver the goods and get us the three points," Al Sadd's Romanian coach Cosmin Olaroiu told media Tuesday.

The Qataris have arrived here with some of their key players missing, prominent among these Ghanaian Agyeman Prempeh Opoku, the sturdy Ivory Coast defender Abdullah Kone, and dominant midfielder Majdi Seddiqi.

"It really doesn't matter who plays in the match. They will have 11 players and we will have 11 and everything will be decided on the field. We've played each other before and both of us are aware of each other's weaknesses and strengths," Olaroiu said. "I don't want to harp too much on the injuries. We have a job to be done and that is to go and win the three points against Al Ahli and I think we are pretty much focused on this," he added.

Seventh appearance

Al Sadd missed out on this continental competition for the first time last season, only to make a comeback this year for their seventh appearance. They rank second only to Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan in terms of number of appearances in the AFC Champions League, but their performance in the competition so far has left much to be desired, having made it past the group stages just once (2005).

"We have started a grassroots programme where we will have players coming through and performing at the highest level. But for the time-being we need to focus on getting through to the next stage," coach Olaroiu added.

Making their fourth appearance in the AFC Champions League, Al Ahli too have had their share of problems that also includes injuries to key players such as Esmail Hammadi, Hassan Ali Shah and Jader Volnei Spindler. However, skipper Mohammad Qasim, who was waiting for his coach Henk Ten Cate to show up, told Gulf News: "We have to abstain from mistakes that we have committed in the past, and one of these is the lack of concentration. We need to learn from the past that a match is played over 90 minutes and we have to play at the same level throughout the match."

Both teams have not had the best of starts to the competition earlier this month with Al Ahli going down 2-4 to Iran's Mes Kerman, while Al Sadd slipped 0-3 at home to Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal.

Local kick-off times:

Group C

Pakhtakor (UZB) v Al Shabab (KSA), Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent (17:00)
Sepahan (IRN) v Al Ain (UAE), Foolad Shahr Stadium, Esfahan (17:00)

Group D

Al Hilal (KSA) v Mes Kerman (IRN), King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh (20:25)
Al Ahli (UAE) v Al Sadd (QAT), Al Rashid Stadium, Dubai (19:15)

Group G

Singapore Armed Forces (SIN) v Suwon Bluewings (KOR), Jalan Besar Stadium (19:30)
Gamba Osaka (JPN) v Henan Jianye (CHN), Expo ‘70 Stadium, Osaka (19:00)

Group H

Pohang Steelers (KOR) v Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN), Steelyard Stadium, Pohang (19:30)
Shandong Luneng (CHN) v Adelaide United (AUS), Shandong Sports Centre, Jinan (15:30)