Al-Gharafa team concludes its training in preparation for its match against Al-Ain, UAE, this evening, before tomorrow’s match in the second round of the AFC Elite Champions League. The Panthers will participate in the final training session, starting at six o’clock, at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium at Al Gharafa Club, under the leadership of Portuguese coach Pedro Martinez, with the participation of all players except for the duo Asim Madibo and South Korean Jang Hyun-soo due to injury.
It is expected that today’s training will be light and will not take more than an hour to avoid fatigue, after the strong main training that the team underwent last evening, which lasted nearly two hours, during which Portuguese coach Pedro Martinez outlined the match plan.
During this confrontation, the Gharfawi team seeks to achieve the first victory in the tournament, compensate for the huge loss it suffered in the first round by three against the Iranian Esteghlal team, and reconcile with the fans of the Panthers after the negative results, whether in the league or the AFC Champions League, the last of which was the loss to Al-Sadd by four.
During this confrontation, Al-Gharafawi fans are counting on the first appearance of a number of the team’s players, led, of course, by the Tunisian player Wajdi Kachrida, and the same is the case for the Icelandic Aron Gunnarsson, the former Al-Arabi player who recently joined the Qalaat Al-Fhood, as they will be registered in the Asian roster of the Al-Gharafawi team, in addition to the debut also of the Spanish goalkeeper, Sergio Rico. He joined the team four days ago and is ready to guard the Panthers’ goal during the AFC Champions League matches.
The press conference for the match between Al-Gharafa and Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates will be held at five in the evening today in the conference hall of Al-Gharafa Club. The beginning will be with the Al-Ain conference in the presence of the coach and one of the players, followed at five-thirty by the Al-Gharafa team’s conference, to talk about the match and the two teams’ preparation for the new challenge in the continental championship.
The UAE team Al Ain will conduct its only training in Doha at Al Bayt World Cup Stadium, at exactly eight o’clock on Monday evening.
During this training, Argentine Hernan Crespo, coach of the Al-Ainawi team, puts the final touches on his team’s preparations for this confrontation.
Al-Gharafa Club announced the launch of tickets for its match with Al-Ain of the Emirates in the AFC Champions League for the elite, and explained that the tickets are now available and the Panthers are seeking to achieve victory in the match on its home soil and among its fans and reach the first 3 points in the tournament after losing 3-0 in the last confrontation with Iranian Esteghlal in the first round of the tournament. There is great support from the Gharfawi fans and calls on social media platforms to support the Cheetahs against Al Ain in the UAE and snatch the first win, to compensate for the previous loss. The fans are waiting for a reaction from the players and a different face. Ironically, the confrontation between the two teams in the Elite League will be the first at the AFC Champions League level. They have never met before, and the task will not be easy for Al Ain, the holders of the last edition of the AFC Champions League 2023-2024, which includes high-caliber stars such as Moroccan Sofiane Rahimi, the best player and top scorer of the last edition, along with Matías Palacios. Alejandro Romero and Kodjo Lapa, and will inevitably search for victory after stumbling at home to Al Sadd in a 1-1 draw in the first round.
