Dubai: Al Wasl coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena has hailed his team’s spirit and single-mindedness in retaining their top position with a 4-0 thrashing of bottom-placed Bani Yas in the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) in seventh round action late on Friday.
Possibly one of the youngest coaches in the AGL, Arruabarrena’s side rode on a brace each from Caio Canedo and Fabio De Lima to hand visiting Bani Yas one of their worst defeats this season. Caio Canedo opened the scoring in the fifth minute and De Lima doubled the advantage on the half-time whistle as the home side went in with a 2-0 cushion.
De Lima got his second of the night just one minute away from the hour mark, while Canedo completed the rout in the 80th minute to ensure Al Wasl retain sole leadership of the AGL with 18 points after seven matches. This was the sixth consecutive win for the Emperor that gives the Al Zabeel club one of their best starts to a season in a long time.
“All this is due to the hard work being put in by each and every player. This team is not just about Fabio [De Lima] and Caio [Canedo],” Arruabarrena told media at the post-match conference.
“Caio and De Lima stand out because they score the goals. But you should take a look at how the goals are scored. They are all well built up moves starting from deep inside our territory. The foreign players are good, but we are one group while playing,” the 41-year-old insisted.
“We scored early and that helped us a bit. This makes it six wins in a row, but we should not allow this to get to us. In fact, we need to work even harder and maintain this run,” the Argentine added.
Put off early following an injury to playmaker Felipe Bastos, Bani Yas coach Jose Manuel Gomes admitted it was always going to be a tough task getting back into the game. “We played well and tried to create chances. But then that injury to Bastos early in the game pulled us down a bit. We tried to play, but coming back from two goals down was always going to be tough,” Gomes said.
“As a team we have the quality. The only thing needed now is that we need to believe we can play well and win. I am sure we will turn the corner soon,” the 46-year-old Portuguese coach added.
Former Al Ahli goalkeeper Ahmad Dida, who now keeps for Bani Yas admitted that the fault for the dismal run this season lay in the players and not in the coach or the management. “As players, we are to be blamed for the results. I doubt any of us can make any excuses. We are not playing the Italian League. This is the Arabian Gulf League and most of us know each other on and off the field since we were growing up in football,” the former national team goalkeeper offered.
“It is now up to us to make a concerted effort and ensure we start winning points and climbing up the standings,” he added.
In the second late match on Friday, Al Nasr returned to Dubai will full points following a sound 3-1 win against Sharjah.
RESULTS
Al Wasl 4 Bani Yas 0
Sharjah 1 Al Nasr 3
