Assistant coach Raja … nothing is impossible in front of the Ismaili, despite the large number of absences

Hisham Abu Sherwan, assistant coach of the Moroccan Raja team, stressed the difficulty of his team’s next match in the Mohammed VI Cup for Champions Clubs against the Egyptian Ismaili, pointing out that he bears a heavy responsibility for taking over the leadership of this match in the absence of technical director Jamal Al-Salami, who was confirmed to be infected with the Coronavirus.

The two teams meet at the Grand Stadium of Marrakech in Morocco tomorrow evening, Monday, in the second leg of the semi-final of the Mohammed VI Cup for Champions Clubs, after Ismaily settled the first-leg match in his favor with a 1-0 victory.

Abu Sharwan said at the match’s press conference: “Nothing is impossible in tomorrow’s match. We have players with great experience in such demonstrations, and we have a great desire to qualify for the final match, which will be played in the Kingdom of Morocco and bears the name of the country’s king, Mohammed VI.

Regarding Al Raja’s preparations for the meeting, he said: “I wish success in my mission tomorrow, waiting for the return of Jamal Al-Salami, whom we wish a speedy recovery. It is indeed an adventure. It is not an easy task to have the opportunity to lead an ancient team like hope, but in return I am ready and the important thing is the readiness of the players tomorrow, and my message to them is that there is no deviation from victory.

Abu Sharwan elaborated, saying: “We suffer from the absence of key and influential players such as Abdul-Ilah Al-Hafizi, Omar Boutayeb, and Ben Malango, but we are confident of the performance of the players who will compete in the match against a stubborn team, and one of the best Egyptian teams without forgetting the result of the preference for the first-leg match in Egypt.”

For his part, Osama Sakhan, the Raja player, said about the match: “Since the beginning of preparation for the match, we have been working hard with the technical staff, so that we can be on time to achieve victory. Of course, the absence of the Salami coach has an effect on the team, but we have great confidence in the assistant coach by virtue of our knowledge of him and we will be committed to implementing his instructions literally.

And about the transfer of the match from the Mohammed V complex in Casablanca to Marrakech, following the player, saying: “The pitch is important in front of a difficult opponent, and given the bad weather it was necessary to change the stadium, and in this circumstance, I think that the change is a right choice and the training camp was good.”

On the other hand, Ismaili coach Abu Talib al-Isawi said of the upcoming meeting: “It will be a difficult match for the two teams. Perhaps more for Raja, which is going through a difficult period after its exit from the CAF Champions League semi-finals, but in my opinion, each match has its own calculations and style, and what determines the outcome is the plan that each team will adopt and the readiness of the players inside the green turf.

In response to a question about the course of the match, Abu Talib said: “We hope to present a match worthy of Ismaili. Our preparations were on this basis. We have followed a group of Raja matches, and we know that it is a highly skilled team, and we will deal with the match based on what we have recorded from our studies of the opposing team. ”

“This match is completely different from the first leg,” he added. Some important pillars such as Abdul Rahman Majdi, Omar Al-Wahsh, Ahmed Ayman, and Baher Al-Muhammadi are absent due to the injury.

And he added: “On the other hand, and this is the most important thing, the two teams together witnessed the departure of a group of players and the inclusion of new others, and these data will raise the technical level of the meeting, and we hope the Ismaili Club will return to shine strongly, starting from this match and reaching the final.”

For his part, Ismail Sobhi, the player of the Ismaili team, said: “The match means a lot to us. Winning and qualifying mean realizing the dream of all the components of the club. The first leg is the first half and we are waiting for the second half tomorrow, which we hope will be in our favor. ”

He concluded by saying: “We respect the ancient Raja club, but we will play full chances to win, as it will be the match of the season. We have the ingredients as players and are aware of the great responsibility.