Al Ain: Hosts Al Ain won the pre-season AIFC 2014 Cup by finishing top of the standings with four points despite being held to a draw by 10-man Al Nasr of Saudi Arabia in their final match at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium.
The Boss had earlier beaten Kuwait SC 4-0 and the draw with Al Nasr thus assured them of top position and the title. Al Nasr had to be content with second with two points from the same number of matches while Kuwait, with a point, finished third.
In the final outing, Al Nasr took the lead with a 29th-minute goal from Mohammad Al Sahlawi. The equaliser for Al Ain came from Jires Kembo Ekoko in the 75th minute. Al Sahlawi was later sent off for persistently arguing with referee Sultan Al Marzouqi.
Al Ain were denied victory by the frame of the goal, which came to Al Nasr’s rescue to deny Ekoko, Miroslav Stoch and Rashid Eisa on separate occasions.
Rashid Mubarak Al Hajiri, Al Ain deputy board member and AIFC 2014 higher committee head, crowned Al Ain as champions.
Al Ain, who also won the title in 2009 and 2010, took home individual medals, the cup and also a cash prize of Dh300,000. Runners-up Al Nasr were given Dh200,000.
Al Ain’s Ekoko was the top scorer with three goals.
Al Ain head coach Zlatko Dalic said: “My team seemed tired after two matches in three days. We played slowly in the first half and some mistakes appeared, but in general the team seemed well in the second half.”
Dalic also went on to reveal that Al Ain, who are set to play Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in the AFC Asian Champions League quarter-final first leg on August 18, are still not ready.
“Al Ain are not completely ready yet and some players need more training to increase fitness in the coming 20 days to correct all the mistakes and get ready for the match against Ittihad,” he said.
“I am aware of our targets in the coming season and we want to make our fans happy. The immediate target is to win the match against Ittihad. In general, I’m satisfied by the level of the team, but they should be more careful in the coming period.”
