Coach Hernan Crespo stressed the importance of winning the team’s opening match against Al-Taawoun in the group stage of the AFC Champions League. The coach said in his first media appearance after receiving the team’s coaching assignment, during the press conference at 4 PM today in the Al-Funood hall of the Golden Tulip Hotel, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia:” I am very proud to be in this tournament that we will start tomorrow against Al Taawun. The opening matches are always difficult and important at the same time, and we do not have much information on our opponent, but we will focus on the field and work on keeping the upper hand to get positive results. I believe that everyone in the team is ready for tomorrow’s game.”

The also coach said: “I was a coach in South America and now I am here in Asia, which is a new experience for me. I try to provide the addition that my team needs in order to compete for local and continental titles, and I hope to see Al Duhail achieve good results in matches.”

The coach continued, saying: “We fully know that the team lost to Al-Taawon last season, and we studied the match and know the capabilities of our players. I think that my team is on the right track and we do not want to talk about the losses that the team suffered previously. We are now in a new event, and Al Duhail managed to win the Amir’s Cup title a few weeks ago, but now the tournament is different and needs us to focus and make sure we do our best.”
Crespo said: “We will be ready for this match, regardless of the time that I arrived at the club. With the continuous training, I have reached a very good level of understanding with the players. Not only that, I have also watched a great amount of videos of the team in order to further study the players.