Al Duhail can reach the FIFA Club World Cup final, says Ali Afif

will participate in FIFA Club World Cup for the second time in his career. He played for

in 2011 when they competed for the FIFA Club World Cup trophy as Asian champions. At the time Afif was 23 years old and had a huge role in his club’s AFC Champions League glory. In an interview with

FIFA.com

, the Qatari forward has spoken about the importance of the competition and his side’s chances to reach the final.

“I didn’t play a lot [in the 2011 competition], but the Club World Cup is a very demanding tournament,” said Afif. “The coach wanted to give everyone some playing time and a chance to compete at this level.”

Afif had an important role in

’s domestic success as they managed to win the Qatar Stars League trophy last season.

“I’m delighted to be one of the few Qatari players to play in the Club World Cup twice, which is not something many players can say,”

he added, before discussing his team's goal to better Al Sadd’s run to the semi-finals in 2011.

“It’s always pleasing to equal records but we’ve got the ability to reach the final and go one step further than Al Sadd did in 2011. We need a bit of luck to do that. And when it comes to knockout matches you also need to use your head sometimes.”

Asked about the Egyptian side

as their first rival in the competition, Afif responded:

“

There’s no question that Al Ahly are one of the biggest sides in Africa. They were named the continent’s club of the 20th century,” said Afif ahead of the meeting with the Egyptians on Thursday 4 February at Education City Stadium.

“We’ll see what happens against the African champions but it’s 11 versus 11,” he added. “If we beat Al Ahly, we’ll then play Bayern Munich, but we have to face the African champions first. We have to prepare and focus on how to play them because they’re a great side too.”

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