Former Internacional and Corinthians star Alex was praised by opposition coach Lazlo Boloni, manager of Al-Khor, for his performance in Al-Gharafa’s 2-1 victory over his side this weekend. The playmaker was instrumental in his side’s victory, setting up former São Paulo striker Diego Tardelli for his goal, and was a constant menace throughout.
Alex, 30, is thriving in Qatar and is already considered one of Al-Gharafa’s key players, despite only moving to the Middle East in July this year, and he told Lancenet that he was delighted to hear the praise from Boloni.
He said: “I was happy when I read the newspapers in the morning and saw that I had praise for my performance against Al-Khor. It was good to see that here in Qatar they also value the construction of moves and football as a whole. The assist I gave for Tardelli’s goal helped me to have this recognition from media and the federation.”
And Alex was clearly happy with the assist, one of many he hopes to lay on for his fellow teammates.
“It was a really beautiful thing. Helping fellow attackers is my main function, so hopefully I can repeat yesterday’s performance many times.”
There is a strong Brazilian influence at Al-Gharafa this season as, along with Alex and Tardelli, they are coached by Paulo Silas, who has coached both Grêmio and Flamengo, and former Middlesbrough striker Afonso Alves.
