Dubai: Both Al Nasr and Sharjah will be looking to end decade-long domestic trophy droughts when they face off in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup at Al Ahli’s Rashid Stadium in Dubai on Friday.

Though Al Nasr won the Gulf Clubs Championship last season, their last domestic success came way back in 2002, when they had won the Federation Cup. Sharjah have also gone without silverware for more than 10 years, since they claimed the President’s Cup for a record eighth time in 2003.

“There is no pressure on us. Rather we look at this drought in the trophy cabinet as an added motivation for our team,” said Sharjah’s Brazilian coach Paulo Bonamigo at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.

“Being in a final, and that too after such a long time, is an opportunity for our players, especially the young ones. I hope they can take up this opportunity and win the trophy as that would give them so much confidence that we can carry forward into the second half of the Arabian Gulf League.”

Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic praised his team’s opponents.

“No doubt, this is a very important game for us as this is our first time in a final domestically after a long time. We are up against a very good opponent and I believe we will need to be careful on the minute details throughout the entire duration of the match,” Jovanovic said.

“Both teams finished the group stages with an all-win record and so both deserve to be in the final. And now that we have reached so far, we need to ensure we are at our very best to be worthy of the trophy.

“The team that commits the lowest number of mistakes will win the trophy.”

Al Nasr scored once in each half to beat Bani Yas 2-0 in their semi-final, while Sharjah fought back from a goal down to win on penalties over Al Shabab earlier this month. And now, after a fortnight’s break, the two teams will fight each other for the first domestic trophy of the season.

They have played each other just once so far this campaign, with Al Nasr winning 3-0 at home way back in September.

Bonamigo had taken his squad to neighbouring Qatar for a few days to prepare them for the final.

“We have had a good preparation and the players are very motivated to go all out and win. We are expecting the maximum from our players and hopefully with some luck we can win this trophy,” he said.