Al Shamal coach Nuno Almeida spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 1 match against Al Sadd.

“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.

“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.

Al Shamal striker Baghdad Bounedjah said, “It will be a challenging and a strong match against a big competitor who have very good players.

“But we at Al Shamal have prepared well for the new season through a training period that began two months ago with an overseas camp in the Netherlands with the new technical staff. The camp was successful by all standards and most importantly that it ended without no player having any injury.

“I hope to do his best with the team and to play a great match. I hope that we as a team succeed in dealing well with the opportunities that will be available in this difficult opening contest.”