Qatar's Al Rayyan promise fight against group rivals

6/24/2016 4:40:14 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Luis Amado, Movistar Inter captain, and Falcao, Magnus Futsal player during a press conference held at Radisson Blu Hotel in Doha yesterday.

By Rizwan Rehmat

DOHA: Star player ‎Lucas de Oliveira‎ yesterday said Al Rayyan has an opportunity to make a mark on the world stage in their opening clash at this week’s Futsal Intercontinental Cup.

Qatari team Al Rayyan take on Spanish giants Inter Movistar in the first game at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena today.

Other teams in the six-day tournament include FC Barcelona Lassa of Spain, Carlos Barbosa of Brazil, Magnus Futsal of Brazil, Tasisat Daryaei of Iran, Dynamo Moscow of Russia and Benfica of Spain.

“‎It’s not easy to compete against the top sides. But we are here to give our best fight. We have to enjoy and compete,” De Oliveira said at a press conference yesterday.

“We have new players. We have been working hard in training. Trust me, we will do our best,” he said.

De Oliveira said his team is ‘working hard’ ahead of the opening clash today.

Al Rayyan player Lucas de Oliveira

“As the coach said, we are here to promote the best image of futsal in Qatar. We have a new team,” De Oliveira said.

“The truth is it is not easy. We had only one month to prepare. For the coach, one month is not enough time to prepare the side,” he said.

“The Spanish sides are at the same level. They are very good teams. They made the finals. For me, it is difficult to pick a winner,” he said.

The six-day event will be played at two venues - Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena and Ladies Sports Hall at Aspire.

Al Rayyan coach Cesar Nunez said his team’s opening clash against Movistar is ‘important’.

“Our first game is important. We want to do well. We are glad to participate in this tournament. We have the chance to play against top teams,” Nunez said at a press conference yesterday.

“My players have the opportunity to do well and learn. It is a big event. It is a big responsibility. We should give our best,” he said.

“It’s the same playing against all teams here. Everything is possible. This is not a league. It’s just one match.

Caption

“Our level is not the same as others. In one month you can’t improve. But we couldn’t play friendly games,” he said.

Inter Movistar coach Jesus Velasco said his team will be playing to win the title in Doha.

“It’s a very important event for us. We have done well in this event. This will be a very important season for us,” Velasco said yesterday.

“We won the league in Spain. We have a lot of expectations to do well. ‎We are not here on holiday. We have a responsibility. We celebrated our last title in Barcelona. But now we are going to compete hard,” he said.

“We have to see the impact of our main players. We have a lot of experienced players. ‎This is a world-class tournament. It is important for us. The best clubs are here.

“I don’t prefer to play FC Barcelona Lassa as they have potential to beat us. The most important thing is to compete well. It’s going to be show time on Friday,” he said.

Inter player Luis Amado said his side ‘will deliver the goods’.

“As the captain of the club, we want to win the title. We may be tired but we when we enter the pitch, we play to win. We want to be competitive,” Amado said.

“My team has won this title 6 times. We always play this back home. I always want to win.

“‎I think the most important advice is to enjoy the sport. Take it like a fan activity. Best attitude with good skills after studying the teams and everything comes together. Our main objective is to compete and win. “

In the day’s other game today, Tasisat Daryaei of Iran face Carlos Barbosa of Brazil.

Tasisat Daryaei coach Amir Shamsaei said: “We must say we are here for one of the best events. Legends of the game are here. We will see how the tournament goes. We hope this event is a success. We applaud QFA for attracting the best sides. All the top teams from different continents are here.

He added: “I must say the best teams are here. We have Dynamo and Barbosa in our group. We have played hard matches against them. We will see what happens on the field. As I said we had a lot of national matches with Spain but we don’t have club games with them. We know how they play but we will see what happens. It’s a hard match but we will try to do our best. We know Spain are top in futsal.”

Tasisat Daryaei player Majid Raeisi said: “It is my pleasure to play in this tournament. All the Iran’s top players are here. We are here to defend the Asian title.”

Carlos Barbosa coach Marquinhos Xavier said: “We recently won the national championship in 2015 and 2016. We have a young team. It is a very important event. We want to do a good job here. We work as a unit, believe in team work. We have players with good technique. We are also preparing for worlds. This team is winning many kinds of events. We are ready for this tournament. What we want is to make a good impression with our talent. We haven’t had many games with international teams. We believe in ourselves. We will aim to be in the top four at this event.”

He added: “We believe this a very important event since we will be playing against Europe sides. It is important since we have three schools of futsal here. We will be a better side by playing here. Our team, we play fast.”

The Peninsula

if(window.innerWidth < 728){ googletag.display(''div-gpt-ad-796530061225000279-1''); }

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.