Portuguese coach Rui Vitória, head coach of Al Wasl’s first football team, confirmed his team’s readiness to face Iraqi side Al-Zawraa in the first leg of the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League Two, stressing the importance of the match, during the press conference held ahead of the game.

Vitória said: “Of course it will be an important match for us, and everyone should know that. It is a difficult match, I recently took over the club, and of course I have sufficient knowledge of my team.”

He added: “I follow Al-Zawraa’s matches, and I hope tomorrow’s game will be good, but it will certainly be difficult, but we are ready. My team is good; I think we will present a beautiful match, but difficult at the same time.”

For his part, Al Wasl player Serginho expressed the players’ confidence and strong readiness for the match, saying: “We are prepared differently for this match because we have a new coach. We know the quality of Al-Zawraa’s players whom we will face tomorrow, and it will be a tough match against them.”

He concluded his remarks: “We hope to deliver a good match; it will be a difficult encounter, but we work hard to always achieve victory. We trust the coach and ourselves, and I hope it will be a good match.”