Fifa Club World Cup: ‘Al Ahly, Bayern Munich will be difficult for Olunga’s Al-Duhail’ - Ali

Al-Duhail Sports Club Director Adnan Al Ali has claimed Al Ahly will present them with a difficult game during the Fifa Club World Cup opener.

If the Asians win the match, they will then take on European champions Bayern Munich in the next round.

Ali has stated the team will first enter into a camp on February 1 in order to have special preparation ahead of the clash against the Egyptian heavyweights.

“The draw was done and our match against Al Ahly – the Egyptian and African champions – will be difficult,” Ali told the club’s website. “We will have different preparations for this tournament, preparations that are different from ones for local competitions.

“We are the host team for Club World Cup and we hope to have an honourable appearance and achieve positive results. If we succeed against Al Ahly, we will confront Bayern Munich which is definitely going to be a very difficult match.

“We will depend on the ability of our players to appear in a way that will represent Qatari football in a proper way.

“We will have a match in the Amir Cup against Al Ahli SC and it will act as one of the preparations for Fifa Club World Cup.”

Olunga – who is set to appear for the first time in the global club competition – is among the new players who joined the Qatari club that earned a place in the tournament after the withdrawal of Auckland City FC.

“After the withdrawal of New Zealand [Auckland City FC withdrew citing stringent coronavirus regulations] and reaching the second stage of the championship, we decided to have the team in a closed camp from February 1.

“It is the best and special way to prepare the players for the Al Ahly match and we trust the ability of the technical staff to prepare the players technically and physically for the showdown

The director pointed out that Olunga and new players were brought specifically to help Al-Duhail achieve their ambitions in the Club World Cup.

“We have included a number of new players to strengthen our ranks and among them are Ali Karim and [Michael] Olunga. They are important additions to the team that is preparing to represent the country in this important championship,” Ali added.

“Al Saad hosted the last edition and this will be the last edition being hosted in Qatar and we certainly hope our participation will be positive. We hope to achieve our goals by participating as required.”

The fixtures will be played at three venues - in the city of Al Rayyan: Khalifa International Stadium, Education City Stadium, and Ahmed bin Ali Stadium when the tournament begins on February 4.