Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Beirut: Safa coach Tita Valeriu is hoping that a heavy league defeat last weekend can serve as a motivational tool for the Lebanese club when they take on Bahrain’s Al Hidd on Tuesday at Sport City Stadium in the last 16 of the AFC Cup.
Safa’s hopes of retaining their Lebanese league title were dealt a severe blow when they thrashed 4-0 by Racing in their penultimate match of the season which kept them in second place in the table, two points behind leaders Nejmeh with only one match left.
But while their hopes of league glory may have faded, their AFC Cup campaign appears to be in good shape after they topped Group A with 16 of a possible 18 points to set up a clash against tournament newcomers Al Hidd.
Valeriu is hopeful that the pain of their heavy loss to Racing will only serve to motivate his players to do better in the AFC Cup.
“The two teams are determined to win and we must take advantage of playing at home and in front of our fans,” said the Romanian.
“Our players know how important the match is and it will be very important to play well against such a good team like Al Hidd.
“We should avoid making mistakes in the match and hopefully the defeat in our last league game will be a lesson for us as we look to motivate the players to continue their good performances in the competition.”
Al Hidd, who finished runners-up behind last year’s beaten finalists Al Qadsia in Group C, arrived in Beirut on Sunday after they beat Omani rivals Al Najma 5-1 in a friendly match last Thursday.
While Al Hidd coach Khalifa Al Zayani feels that his side are underdogs for the match, he believes that they can still pull off a surprise victory against the Group A winners.
“We are happy to be here in Lebanon and hopefully we can produce a good performance against a side who showed a good level in the Group Stage. They finished at the top of their group which means our match against them will not be easy.”
“We know that we will be play against a strong side. We hope that we can win the match and continue our good performances in the competition and our players are fully determined to win the match tomorrow.”