Qatar Football league kicks off tonight (Gharafa, Sadd start as favourites)

Defending champions Al Gharafa and runners-up Al Sadd start as the big title favourites in the second editon of Qatar Stars League which kicks off tomorrow. The country’s top 12 clubs compete under proper home and away format, adopting new rule that allows them to field only four foreign players at a time.
Al Gharafa will have a league hat-trick on their mind when they begin their title defense with a match against Al Khor. Before that Al Rayyan host Qatar Sports Club in the opening match of this season.
Al Gharafa, coached by Marcos Paqueta, won championships in the past two seasons. Paqueta has since moved to rivals Al Rayyan, with another Brazilian Caio Junior taking charge of the Al Gharafa hot seat.

Dead ball specialist: Al Gharafa midfielder Juninho
“It’s a big responsibility as a coach of defending champions,” Caio said. “But I’m satisfied with the team I have. We’ll be working hard to repeat the success we had the past two seasons.”
Al Gharafa’s signing of feared Brazilian free-kick specialist Juninho from French side Olympique Lyonnais adds more dimension to their attack which already have proven midfielders in Othman El Assas from Morocco and Qatari international Anas Mubarak.
The creativity of Juninho and the attacking talents of Brazilian forward Clemerson, Iraqi international Younis Mahmoud will ensure that Caio has a solid core to build his team around.
Al Sadd have waited two years too long for the coveted trophy. And they began their pursuit of a record 12 league title swiftly, signing a number of new players including Brazilian duo Afonso Alves and Leandro Da Silva.
Alves joined in from English championship side Middlesbrough and Leandro completed the transfer from Japan’s Gamba Osaka. With playmaker Felipe Jorge, the Brazilian trio has already sent out warning to rival camps.
Al Sadd’s Romanian coach Cosmin Olaroiu, known for his aggressive tactics, also has plenty of option in the middle with Talal al-Bloushi, returning from Saudi side Al Shabab, as well as Majdi Siddiq and Majed Mohammed. And when
Al Rayyan, for once, looked destined to end their 15-year league title drought as the team under Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori played some brilliant attacking football to lead the standings for long period. But they failed to hold on there as the league entered the final week to see their eighth league title vanished into thin air.
They also reached the finals of all three major competitions Sheikh Jassim Cup, Heir Apparent’s Cup and Emir’s Cup last year. But luck deserted them on each occasion.
Now under Paqueta, Al Rayyan will be pressing hard to reverse their fortune when they kick off their campaign this season.
“It’s a big challenge,” said Paqueta, lamenting that he had only two days to prepare his team before the side’s opening game against Qatar SC tomorrow.
“The preparation was affected due to FIFA day as 90% of our players play for their respective national teams,” he explained.
Al Rayyan rely on the exploits of Ivory Coast striker Amara Diane and have just completed two major signings, including Australian striker Danny Allsopp from Melbourne Victory. And with ample strength in reserve in the likes of Syed Bechir, Hamad Ismail and Meshal Mubarak Al Rayyan definitely have ability to challenge both Al Gharafa and Al Sadd.
“We are confident it will be a sustained push from every player. And like any other coach of Al Rayyan, I will be working hard all season to bring glory to the club,” he reassured.
Qatar Sports Club had a reasonably good season last year, finishing fourth and ending a long title drought with the Heir Apparent’s Cup triumph.
It was a commendable effort from coach Sebastiao Lazaroni, considering the fact that the team was facing precarious situation of not having enough players in the squad. And he was deservedly adjudged coach of the year.
But with the new rules on foreign players coming into effect this season, the Brazilian faces a big challenge to keep up pace with more resourceful rivals like Al Gharafa, Al Sadd and Al Rayyan.
“At Qatar SC we’ve got a lot more work to do than last year,” said the former Brazil national team coach.
“Yet we have a dream to finish inside top four places. We will try as a group to achieve that goal,” he added.
Much will depend on the form of Qatari international striker Sebastian Soria and his partner Luiz Marcinho from Brazil. Midfielders Yousef Safri and Qusai Muneer will also have important roles to play if they are to achieve their objective.
Al Khor’s coach Bertrand Marchand shares those feelings of Lazaroni on the new rule on foreign players. With as many as seven of their players opting for rival clubs, the Frenchman fears the gap between bigger clubs and the rest of the field could widen further.
“We did exceptionally well last season to finish fifth. But I think it would be much more difficult this season,” Marchand said.
However, Al Khor despite missing several of their key players defied all odds to reach the final of Sheikh Jassim Cup. And they are looking to carry the momentum into the league. Marchand will rely on strikers Moumouni Dagano from Burkina Faso and Algerian Rafik Saifi, with Wesam Rizik and Abdullah al-Berik doing spade-works from the midfield.
If the Sheikh Jassim Cup tournament is any indication, Umm Salal, the winners of the season’s first tournament look a sold unit under French coach Gerard Gili. They are keen to put the disappointing sixth place in last season’s league campaign behind them.
Having reached the last eight of the AFC Champions League – only the second club from Qatar to achieve the feat, Umm Salal made their intentions clear with addition of a number of new players to their squad.
New recruit Brazilian striker Davi Jose, together with compatriot Magno Alves could be a potent threat to their rivals. The arrival of midfielders Nabil Anwar and Adbulaziz Karim and Ahmed Rahmatullah would add more width to their attack, relieving pressure off playmaker Fabio Cesar in the middle.
Coach Gili certainly knows how to get the best out of his players and will ensure his team fights out every game for the 90 minutes.
“We suffered a setback last season as we lacked good bench strength to fight on two fronts,” the Frenchman admitted, indicating at Umm Salal’s domestic and AFC Champions League campaigns.
“With the new arrivals, we’re aiming for more domestic titles and carry our good form into the AFC Champions League,” said Gili after his team won the Sheikh Jassim Cup.
Al Arabi, the winners of last year’s Sheikh Jassim Cup, will no doubt produce some great performances mixed in with some disastrous ones, but anything other than a top six finish would be a surprise.
Al Arabi failed to keep the tempo and were a big disappointment that cost Brazilian coach Ze Mario his job in December. His replacement German Uli Stielike steered them clear of danger zone. Their progress will depend on the performances of Argentinian attacking midfielder Leonardo Pisculichi, Brazilian striker Carlos Kim and new signing Sanel Kuljic from Austrian second division side FC Magna Wiener Neustadt.
Al Wakrah’s coach Mustafa Madih has made a number of new signings in pre-season, yet they need to show more consistency if they are to avoid another difficult campaign.
Al Sailiya can also expect a difficult campaign as they bank heavily on Brazilian Roger Flores and Cameroonian Jean-Emmanuel Effa.
With unimpressive bench strength almost every other side is a candidate for relegation. Al Kharaitiyat, who finished at the bottom of pile last season and are only in the top league thanks to the new 12-team format, and newly promoted sides Al Ahli and Al Shamal are all likely to spend weeks in or near the relegation zone.

SPURCE : Gulf Times