Al Sadd will miss the services of captain Xavi Hernandez for one month as he sustained an injury during their QSL Cup third round match against Al Sailiya, that ended in a 3-3 draw last Friday.
According to Al Sadd club’s website, Xavi underwent a medical examination that confirmed a torn muscle on his right foot. The Spanish star is to undergo a rehabilitation programme for four weeks.
Meanwhile, Al Sadd’s South Korean midfielder Jung Woo-Young continued his recovery process from an ankle injury he suffered during their QNB Stars League Week 10 match against Al Ahli. He participated in warm-up exercises.
Currently Al Sadd has eight players in the Qatar squad for the friendlies. They are Saad al-Dossari, Boalem Khoukhi, Abdulkarim Hassan, Tariq Salman, Salem al-Hajri, Akram Afif, Hassan al-Haydous and Pedro Miguel. Five other players (Meshaal Barsham, Hatem Kamal, Bahaa al-Lithy, Hassan Ahmed, Yousuf Abdelrazaq) are with the Qatar U-23 team while Baghdad Bounedjah has joined the Algerian national team camp for 2019 AFCON qualifier against Togo.
Sadd are preparing for their away match against Al Arabi, dubbed the Qatar Derby, in Week 13 of the QNB Stars League on 24th November. Al Sadd resumed their training without players who are on international duty. Al Sadd are second in the QNB Stars League standings with 23 points.
Al Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira used yesterday’s session to work on the physical fitness of the available players, in order to ensure they are in top condition before the resumption of the league.
Meanwhile, Al-Sadd goalkeeper Saoud al-Hajri made his return to training after recovering from a partial cruciate ligament tear that he suffered while playing the QatarGas League.
Al-Hajri will continue to train under the goalkeeping coach Eduardo Perez before joining the first team for group training.
