Dhofar to meet Kuwait’s Qadsia in 2020 AFC Cup

Muscat, Feb 24 - Oman’s representative Dhofar will take on Qadsia of Kuwait on Tuesday in the second round of 2020 AFC Cup Group C which also comprised of Al Jazeera (Jordan) and Riffa (Bahrain) who will meet in a tight fixture in Amman city on Tuesday. The Salalah giants’ match against Qadsia will be held at the Jaber al Ahmed International Stadium in Kuwait. The match will start at 8:30 (Muscat time). Oman striker Abdulaziz al Maqbali and his team mates will look forward to register the second successive victory after their first win against Jordan’s Al Jazeera 1-0 on February 11 in the inaugural match of the group in Salalah. Egyptian coach Mohammed Abdul Adhema is fully aware that the match will be tough as the opponents are also seeking for the second victory. They beat Bahrain’s Riffa 2-1 and the Kuwaiti team is leading the group on goal difference. Dhofar players will target nothing less than winning points as that will keep the team closer to advance into the next round. The second-placed team in Omantel League arrived in Kuwait on Sunday after they finished their league match against Al Rustaq. Despite their 3-2 loss against the Batinah team, Dhofar players are confident and fully focused for the AFC Cup which they are participating for fourth time after their presence in 2004, 2007 and 2013 editions. The team had two training sessions on Sunday and the official training in the stadium venue on Monday. The Egyptian coach affirmed during the pre-match press conference on Monday that the team will deliver their top performance. “It is true that Dhofar are competing in many tournaments at the domestic and abroad levels. However, our ambitions are very high at the Asian tournament and it is bigger than the pressure which we had it now,” he said. Oman’s goalkeeper Fayez al Rushaidi sounded confident prior the match against Qadsia: ‘‘Our expectations are very high for this match and we are very optimistic to finish the match on a successful note,” he said. The Dhofar coach will look to Abdulaziz al Maqbali, young forward Al Mundhir al Alawi and Spanish top striker Hugo Lopez — who scored a hat-trick in the league recently — to inspire the side. At the domestic level, Dhofar won the Super Cup in 2019-20 season against Sur and are fighting for the league title with Seeb and have reached the semifinals of the HM Cup. The Salalah team finished the first leg match of semifinal of the coveted Cup with a 1-1 draw against Al Nahda.