DOHA (Qatar): Al Sadd suffered a huge blow when their forward Hassan Al Haidous was ruled out of the rest of the season due to a knee injury during the AFC Champions League match against Sepahan on Tuesday.
Hassan, who put in a masterful performance against the Iranian side, scoring two goals and playing a big part in Akram Afif’s opening strike, suffered the injury and limped out of the field in the first minute of added time.
With Salem Al Hajri and Ali Afif already out for a considerable period with serious injuries, Hassan’s absence will be a big a blow for coach Xavi Hernandez, as Sadd look to mount a serious challenge in the Qatar Stars League, Amir Cup and AFC Champions League.
The injury will also be a blow for the Qatar national team who are preparing for their next two matches in Group E of the Asian Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 next month.
However, Xavi praised the performance of his side’s 3-0 victory against Sepahan.
“The team was in their best condition and we had one of our best matches this season,” said Xavi. “We definitely deserved this victory. The win was against a strong and special team who are favourites to win the group. This victory shows that Al Sadd can go far in the competition.”
