Buitenweg: I trust my players to qualify against AS FAR

Dutch coach Arno Buitenweg, the head coach of Al Wahda’s first team, expressed his confidence in qualifying for the next round of the King Salman Cup for Clubs, confirming that his players are ready to face the Moroccan Royal Army tomorrow, Wednesday, at Al Nahyan Stadium in the second round of the tournament.

Buitenweg said in the introductory press conference held today, Tuesday: “This is the last match of the season, and we will face a strong Moroccan team that competes for the Moroccan league and has good elements to play the match”.

He added, “We will play the match on our ground and among our fans, and we will try to win to qualify for the finals, as the players have high professionalism and focus on this final match of our football season”.

Regarding the chances of “The Maroon” to qualify, the Dutch head coach said: “The match begins with the start whistle and 22 players compete on the field, so the chances are equal, and we hope that luck and victory will be on our side”.

He added, “We have two options to qualify, either a 0-0 draw and winning on penalties, or winning by any result, and this is what we are looking forward to”.

Regarding the absences in the Royal Army team, Buitenweg explained: “As I said earlier, the AS FAR is a good team, and they have a list of good players who can compensate for the absent player with another player of the same level”.

Tagliabue: We have a tough match ahead and we are in a good period

On the other hand, Al Wahda star Sebastian Tagliabue considered the match against the Royal Army to be “difficult”, but he confirmed that “Al Wahda is going through a good period, and we performed well in the first match, and we have nothing to lose. We are ready for tomorrow’s match to achieve victory”.

He added, “We struggled on the offensive side in the previous match, which was a tactical game that saw us excel defensively, but in this match, we will be better, especially on the offensive level”.

He concluded, “The Army team controlled the pace of the first leg match, but we were more dangerous on goal, and if we are on our day in tomorrow’s match, we will be able to qualify”.