Sport | Football

Al Wasl coach happy with victory

Maradona surprised after his side remain the only Dubai team in the competition

  • By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 December 20, 2011
  • Gulf News

Diego Maradona
  • Image Credit: Arshad Ali/Gulf News
  • Diego Maradona says Al Wasl could have done better than Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Santos in Fifa Clubs World Cup final victory if they converted a penalty against Al Ahli.

Dubai: Diego Maradona does not see any reason why his Al Wasl cannot continue with their winning momentum and go all the way to win the President's Cup or even the league.

"Our victory came because of the hard work the players put in during training. We came here confident of a win. We worked hard during the training and the players and coaching staff deserve all the credit for this win," Maradona complimented after Al Wasl became the only team from Dubai to make it to the quarter-finals of the President's Cup.

Last-minute penalty

Asked if he expected such a huge result against a high-level team like Al Ahli, the Argentinean said: "There is no need for imagination in predicting a result here. We played a very good team, but ... they are having some sort of trouble. We could have done one better than Barcelona [who won by an identical 4-0 margin against Brazil's Santos in the Fifa Clubs Championships also on Sunday], if we had converted the last-minute penalty."

Maradona is confident his club can only get better as time passes. "We hope we will be able to continue this performance. But there is still a long way to go. There are tough matches ahead as the teams from Abu Dhabi are tough. However, the most important thing for us is to keep doing well during training and as long as we train hard and perform this way then we can achieve much more."

Legend

Argentinean legend Diego Maradona had a word of friendly advice for Al Ahli's Quique Flores Sanchez after Al Wasl had sent Al Ahli packing with a 4-0 humiliation in the President's Cup late on Sunday.

"He [Flores Sanchez] should be patient. It's always tough at the beginning. I have walked this road before, but he should give himself time and things will fall in place," Maradona told media at the post-match conference late on Sunday. "I went through the same feeling, so I can understand what he is going through."

FIXTURES

  • Quarter-finals (January 9-10):
  • Bani Yas vs Al Ain
  • Ajman vs Al Jazira
  • Al Wahda vs Al Wasl
  • Ittihad Kalba vs Sharjah

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