Air Force Club coach Ali Hadi has called on his players to avoid complacency when they take on Al Dharia in Group C of the 2016 AFC Cup on Wednesday with a place in the next phase of the competition on the line.
Victory will move the Iraqi side on to 12 points from five games and would guarantee they progress to the Round of 16, while Al Dharia, who have played one game fewer, would still harbour hopes of advancing.
“We want to secure our place in the knockout stage of the competition and this means that we have to win the match tomorrow,” said Hadi (pictured). “We have prepared for the match well and our concentration is on the game against Al Dharia.
“Our opponents are a good team and we should not underestimate them because they can cause a lot of problems for us. We hope to continue our good run in the competition and get all three points.”
Al Dharia go into the game off the back of a 4-3 win in the Palestinian league over fellow AFC Cup participants Ahli Al Khalil last Friday and coach Abdulfattah Arar is upbeat about his team’s prospects.
“We will be playing against the leaders of the group and this is definitely a tough match for us,” he said. “We will go into the match with the aim of putting in a good performance and play with balance in order to avoid losing any players for the last match.”
“I have a lot of confidence that the players are capable of claiming a positive result. Air Force have a lot of experience in this kind of competition but we will try our best to give them a hard time and get a good result.”
Al Dharia are in second place in the group with four points alongside Al Oruba having played one game less than the Omanis, who meet bottom-of-the-table Al Wahda from Syria in the other game of the round.
Al Wahda coach Raefat Mohammad is hoping his team can bounce back following their loss to Air Force on Matchday Four, which left them a tough challenge to qualify for the knockout phase of the competition.
“We will have a difficult match tomorrow especially after the defeat against Air Force in the previous match,” he said. “We know that winning is our only chance to remain in contention in the group.
“I have a lot of confidence in my players that we can make a good comeback. The players have great determination to get a positive result and I’m sure that they will give their best in order to win.”
Al Oruba coach Martin Koopman knows that a win for his side would also be a major boost to their chances of advancing to the Round of 16.
“We must win the match tomorrow if we want to maintain our chances in the group,” said the Dutchman, who side lost 1-0 to Muscat in their domestic league on Sunday.
“The match will not be easy and our opponents are strong but we are also a good side and we should be able to get a good result.
“I hope that the players will be ready to give a good performance and get back home with a positive result.”
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