Al Rayyan Club may prove dangerous for double defending champions Al Arabi Club in the Super Cup Volleyball on Friday.
The match is scheduled at 6 pm at Al Arabi Club Indoor Hall and the hosts, who finished the AVC Cup in Myanmar in second place and started the season with the QVA Cup on Wednesday, need to be wary of the rivals.
The Super Cup is features the winners of the QVA League and Emir Cup in a one-off match. Since Al Arabi had won both crowns last season and Al Rayyan were the runners up in the League, they earned the right to figure third time in a row.
Al Rayyan Club captain, talking during a press conference, said,”Our team is quite new this season. Almost six players have been changed. We are rebuilding for the future. So we’ve no pressure at all.
“Cuban professional Yosleyder Cala is playing for us. We’ve no injuries. We’re still quite good and if luck is a little bit with us, we can pull off wins that we missed out on last season,” he added.
Last season, Al Rayyan could not defend the League crown. They won the GCC title and Qatar Cup but failed to reach the Emir Cup final.
Their coach Igor Arbutina also echoed these views and said,”We’ve several new faces. We’re working hard to develop the team again. This year, we played a lot of volleyball. Our first match in the QVA Cup was against Police, who are also quite tough.
“I feel the match is going to be strong and interesting,” added Arbutina.
Captain Juma Faraj and coach Maaouia Lajnef both said the matches against Al Rayyan Club are always high-voltage action and the results are too difficult to guess. Since Al Arabi had to take part in the AVC Cup, their preparations had started long ago but the team is still in good shape.
“It’s true that we’d started practice in July due to the Asian clubs championship. We’re happy to finish runners-up for the second year in a row. After that, our players have had enough rest and we’ve got used to one professional player (Leandro Vissotto) as well.
“We had a good start to the domestic season with the QVA Cup, by dethroning El Jaish. Al Rayyan Club are tough and we also expect a match with fluctuating fortunes. Right now, we’re settled and confident of making a good show on Friday,” added Lajnef.
During the press conference, QVA Executive Director Ahmed al Shibani, Technical Director Hussein Imam Ali and Dr Ali Mostafa Taha were also present.
Shibani urged the teams to strict to prize distribution ceremony protocol and wished good luck to both the outfits.