Credit: the-afc.com
Doha: Al Rayyan coach Paulo Autuori has warned his side not to take Muangthong United lightly as they prepare to face the Thai side in the AFC Cup Round of 16 at Al Rayyan Sports Stadium on Tuesday.
Al Rayyan go into the clash in high spirits having reached the final of Qatar's Emir Cup, seeing off AFC Champions League participants Al Gharafa and Al Sadd along the way.
With Afonso Alves and Fabio Cesar having fired them to the top of Group E, the hosts are expected to overcome a Muangthong side who finished runners-up in Group G even without defender Marcelo Tavares. Autuori, though, was keen to guard against complacency.
"It's a good thing for us to play at home against Muangthong and in front of our fans," said the Braziliam (pictured).
"But there are no easy matches even though many think that this game is very easy for us.
"We must play strongly and our target will be to win the game against Muangthong. The match is important because it's only one game and we will not have any other chance to mount a comeback.
"We will try to employ the necessary tactics for the game as we will miss our defender Marcelo Tavares through suspension and we will try to find the best replacement for him,” he added.
"We have got some information about Muangthong and we studied this information very well. We delivered this information to the players and hopefully we can use it well in the game."
Autuori is expected to field youngster Abdulgafour Murad in place of Tavares while both Sayed Bashir and Hamed Ismail are expected to feature.
Muangthong arrived in Doha on Saturday evening, where they have since undertaken two training sessions.
Striker Mohamed Kone is out through suspension but coach Rene Desaeyere was nevertheless bullish over his side's chances.
"Al Rayyan have several good players including former Middlesbrough star Afonso Alves," said the Belgian.
"However, I'm confident that our men are capable of beating Al Rayyan and advancing to the quarter-finals.
"We have watched Al Rayyan's tactics in their last group match and we have put the necessary strategy in place to beat them and hopefully we can spring a good surprise on Tuesday."
No comments:
Post a Comment