All Goans / Indian football lovers Let us all go and support Dempo Sports Club who play against Al Sadd Sports Club at the Al Sadd Stadium in Doha on 19th February 2011 at 5:30 pm John Desa +974 55605755 AFC Champions League: Team Dempo heads to Qatar Panaji, Feb 17 (PTI) Dempo Sports Club has headed to Qatar for what promises to be a tough encounter against the host city''s Al Sadd Club in the AFC Champions League on February 19.
The team left for Qatar last evening. Anthony Pereira and Valeriano Rebelo who are nursing injuries have not accompanied the team. Armando knows that it will be a difficult task to defeat their opponents, who beat Syria''s Al Ittihad 5-1 win last week. "Definitely, it will be a tough job. Qualifying for the Asian Champions League would give me the greatest satisfaction in my career. It would be a dream come true for us. "But the manner our boys played against Churchill Brothers in the I-League which we won 2-0 few days ago, give me hope that we can match our rivals. If we win it would be a dream come true for us," said coach Armando Colaco. "The standard of Qatar Stars League is higher than ours but we will give a strong fight. Al Sadd is a good team with some notable players in their squad. The return of our six players who did duties for India in the Asian Cup at Qatar will further strengthen the team, their experience of having been there would certainly be of help to us," he added. This is the second time that the Goan outfit will vie for a place in the AFC Champions League where top teams from Japan, South Korea, Iran, Iraq, and Uzbekistan are jostling for continental supremacy. However, the Indian champions will have to play away from home in the single-leg tie to decide which team will progress for the main draw and Colaco is concerned about the AFC''s choice on one match play-off. Colaco has written to the AFC about his suggestion that in future instead of having a play-off, it would be better if there was a home and away fixture which will give the two teams an equal opportunity to make it into the group stages of the elite competition. "I hope it works that way (home and away) in the future and I had written on this to the AFC. No matter what happens our standard will rise when we play stronger teams. If we qualify, we shall play the top most clubs in Asia and that would certainly give a big boost to our confidence," Colaco stated. In the second match, Al Sadd play Dempo SC of India at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday 19th February 2011 at 5:30 pm
