Umm Salal coach Patrice Carteron spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 1 match against Al Rayyan.

“We are waiting for a difficult match against a strong team that should not be underestimated and includes players with good capabilities and a very good coach. So it will be a strong and difficult match, but last season we were able at some point to achieve a very good result against a big team.

“We are looking forward to presenting a strong and good match and a positive result as well. We will do our best to achieve victory, and we realize that the match will be difficult against a strong team, so it is necessary for us to fight to achieve our goal, which is to win.

“Let us hope that this season we have the same quality to achieve that. Of course, we have a lot of respect for the competitor and we know that Al Rayyan are bigger than us, but in football nothing is guaranteed, we will do our best to get the best possible result,” said Carteron.

Umm Salal player Antonio Mansi said, ‘I am very happy to play for The Orange Fortress and even happier with the welcome and celebration I received from everyone.

“I hope to do the best and make the club's fans happy.

“The Netherlands camp was positive and we had good and strong training and I was happy with the camp and the spirit that prevailed in it. Before coming to Doha, I did not know anything, but as soon as I arrived, I heard about the strength of the league and Al Rayyan are a very big club, so I am very excited about the match and we will do our best to achieve a positive result.”