Al Shamal coach Poya Asbhagi spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 17 match against Al Markhiya.

“A very important match awaits us against the new Al Markhiya team, which changed many players in the recent winter transfers.

“We consider the match as a new challenge for us and we realize that it will be difficult, but we are looking forward to victory and three points to take a step towards the safe zone in the league table.

“We are coming off a valuable victory over Umm Salal in the last round and won three valuable points, and scored four distinguished goals. That boosted the team’s confidence and gave it more motivation to continue the journey during the next stage,” said Asbhagi.

Al Shamal player Mahdi Salem said, “The opponents are a big team towards which we have great respect, but we are looking forward to winning and getting the three points in order to advance in the league table and stay away from the danger zone.

“The game will be difficult, but we are determined to score victory and we hope that success will be on our side in this important match.”