Baghdad – WAA
The technical director of the Al-Talaba football team confirmed that the elegant preparations have not reached the required readiness, indicating that he is counting on the experience of his professionals and their mental presence in today’s match against Zakho in the first round of the Iraqi Premier League to achieve a positive result.
Bassem Qasim said in a statement to Al-Sabah newspaper, followed by the (INA), today, Sunday: “He is counting a lot on psychological motivation and mental presence against Zakho and focusing on some tactical details that need to be applied in this important confrontation in which we seek to provide some technical glimpses, as the Al-Aneeq battalion has not reached the required readiness, which is a fact that must be acknowledged.”
“For the first time in his three-decade coaching career, his team enters the league competition without any technical or physical stability, especially since the general preparation period does not meet the ambition and has been marred by many pitfalls and obstacles,” Qasim added, stressing that “the team has suffered from several problems, most notably the financial aspects due to the delay in paying the dues of new and old players whose contracts were renewed for the current season.” He explained that “he feels sad because of the cancellation of the external camp in Turkey due to the absence of the vast majority of the team’s squad and their refusal to travel due to their demands for financial allocations, in addition to the new professionals not obtaining travel visas that qualify them to enter Iraqi territory.”
Qassim continued: “After taking over the task of training the students, we decided to change 70 percent of the team’s formation, dispense with the services of some, and bring in another group of distinguished players. Unfortunately, these players did not get a sufficient opportunity to prepare before entering the league arena, and we hope for the best in the next five rounds in order to prepare them in the ideal manner appropriate for the matches that the competition witnesses, which are characterised by competition and rivalry.”