Moataz Al-Shami (Dubai)
Al Ain put one foot forward in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League, after facing Nasaf of Uzbekistan, without goals, in the confrontation that was held in a central stadium in the Uzbek city of Qarshi, in a confrontation in which “Al-Zaeem” controlled the events despite the absences, and during which he presented a distinguished technical and physical level, especially In the second half, which witnessed 3 chances to score, one of them hit the post, and the other hit the crossbar, from a missile shot fired by Sufyan Rahimi from a direct free kick.
Al Ain gave a positive performance on goal, despite the fact that Amir Atzili, Kaku and Eric were not included in the match squad, in addition to resting some members due to the pressure of participation and matches, between the Champions League and the return to the round of 16 matches of His Highness the President’s Cup on Sunday against Al Wahda in an early final. For the tournament, it requires preparing all the team members, and preventing the most prominent ones from exhaustion, to prepare for the upcoming confrontation that represents a special tournament, and a real summit meeting that requires emerging from it with a positive result that puts the team in the quarter-finals of the tournament, and “Violet” continues its journey later in the “ADNOC Professional League” in the 14th round, Before resuming its journey in the Champions League again with a return match against Nasaf on February 21, at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
The Argentine Hernan Crespo, the coach of the Al Ain team, dealt with “tactical savvy”, with the pressure of the various participations, to compete strongly on two local and continental fronts, and to play approximately 5 matches between the local and Asian competitions, until the end of this February, which requires the necessity of applying the “rotation” system. By resting some influential players from some matches, and bringing in other players who have the ability to make a difference, which is what Al Ain achieved in the first match against Nasaf.
For his part, Crespo stressed that his team’s mission against Nasaf was not easy, and despite that, they played to win, but a draw is not considered a bad result. He said: “We played the confrontation outside our homeland, but the atmosphere was stimulating, the stadium is wonderful, and the fans enhanced the aesthetics of the stadium.” “Karshi.”
He added, “It is certain that we performed well, and wasted some opportunities in front of the opponent's goal, and I believe that our chances are good in the second leg, especially since we are playing the match on our home soil and among our fans.”
On the other hand, Bandar Al Ahbabi, captain of the Al Ain team, pointed out that “The Violets” played with a high fighting spirit and a real desire to win, in order to facilitate the task of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the tournament, and despite that, it was a goalless draw, which would not be bad, but it puts the team under pressure in the tournament. The return match. However, the players are qualified to deal with this type of pressure, as the goal is the necessity of clinching the qualification ticket in the return match.
Al-Ahbabi pointed out that Al-Ain players completely closed the “Asian” file, and returned to opening the local competitions file, whether the early summit in the cup against Al-Wahda, or the league matches later. He said, “Al-Ain is able to compete strongly in all tournaments this season, and we all have confidence in our fans.” “It will be the difficult number in this difficult stage of the season, which requires a different approach from everyone, and adherence to the high fighting spirit.”
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