Doha: Al Sadd coach Felix Sanchez and Al Shamal coach Nuno Almeida spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 1 match slated for Saturday. "The first match in the league is always special and difficult. It is important to show a good performance, to start in a good way. We know that the match will be difficult like all matches in the league," Felix Sanchez said. "We need to prepare for the Al Shamal match and we are optimistic about getting a good result. Of course, this is our first match, but we worked with the players and played some friendly matches, especially the last match that we played at home in front of our fans against the Egyptian Ismaili team," he added. "The team needs to continue working and developing. We are waiting for Al Sadd fans in the stadium from the first match so that the team feels their presence and support. We notice that every year the league becomes more competitive, all teams prepare well and have good players and distinguished technical sta ff, so things have become more difficult, we will do our best to try to repeat what the team achieved last season," said Sanchez. For his part, Al Shamal coach said: "We are waiting for our big match at the beginning of the season against a strong and a big team, who are the defending league and Amir Cup champions, and have some of the most distinguished players in their side." "We realize that we will face a difficult situation given the strength of the opposition that will seek victory and the three points, but at the same time we also believe in ourselves and in our chances of presenting a good performance and achieving a positive result," he added. "Al Shamal are looking forward to presenting a good season and achieving a good start to the new season and I hope that the players would be successful on the field. We will deal with things step by step and we have to give our best, especially since the first match of the season is always special," said Almeida. Source : Qatar News Agency