Abu Dhabi: Coach Hickersberger has blasted the Fifa rules which will see Al Wahda defender Hamdan Al Kamali suspended for Monday's crunch UFL clash against Bani Yas after the player was sent off in Wednesday's Club World Cup penalty-shootout defeat to Pachuca.

"It's stupid," said a clearly disgruntled Hickersberger. "I haven't made the rules, but to be honest, I can't understand this rule because Hamdan Al Kamali is suspended in the next match of a local competition. Can anyone explain this rule to me because I would like to know why."

The Austrian tactician continued his attack and called for Fifa to consider changing the rule. "I can't change the rule but I only ask the officials to think about it because these are two different competitions. It is against fair play, that's my opinion, khallas," he said. RA

 

Abu Dhabi Al Wahda coach Josef Hickersberger has said he has more reason to rue his team's participation in the Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2010 than look at the tournament in a positive light.

The Austrian coach was a frustrated man after watching his side come within minutes of securing a respectable fifth place at the Zayed Sports City stadium as 10-men Al Wahda led Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 only for the Concacaf champions to hit back with two late goals and eventually win the tie 4-2 in a penalty-shootout.

Al Wahda have certainly had their moments in the three matches they have played, starting off with an impressive 3-0 victory over Oceania champions Hekari United before their defensive frailties were brutally exposed in a 4-1 quarter-final defeat to Seongnam Chunma and then seeing their hopes for a positive finish end in agony last night despite star striker Ismail Matar notching his first goal in the event.

And summing up Al Wahda's tournament, Hickersberger said: "I'm not happy with the results. Of course, we did win the most important match against Hekari United. That was of course a game we expected to win. Last year with Al Ahli not able to win the first match, it was important for us to win. But the second match was a nightmare for me as I did not expect us to concede four goals."

He added: "I can be happy with the way we played [on Wednesday] as we played without some key players like Fernando Baiano. I'm also very happy that Ismail scored. But in general, I would describe our tournament as 50-50."

But the man who steered the Abu Dhabi club to victory in the UFL last season insisted even victory last night would not have compensated for the crushing defeat to Asian rivals Seongnam. "It makes no difference," he said, "Because whenever I recollect memories from this tournament I will be sad we couldn't play better and do better against Seongnam."

Hickersberger also refused to acknowledge that the tournament would serve to help his team once they resume their domestic commitments starting with this Monday's UFL fixture against Bani Yas.

"I think it will be the opposite," he said. "I would say it has done us more harm because we have had to play three tough matches in a week whereas Bani Yas would have been able to make better preparations for that match.

"Sure the experience is good for the younger players but the bad factors will have a greater influence over the next few days," the coach added.