Dubai: Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ahli’s assistant coach has warned his team that they can take a well-deserved summer break only after the season-ending President’s Cup final on May 18.
“For us, the season is not over. We need to show everybody that we have the necessary character and attitude to win all four trophies. Realistically, this game is over and our next game [versus Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League] is even more difficult. There is no time to relax at all. This is the period when we will be tested even more, and for us the holidays will start only on May 18 after the President’s Cup final against Al Ain,” Assistant Coach Catalin Raducan told media here.
“We are still not on holidays and this will be conveyed to the players in the dressing room,” he added.
Raducan went on to hail the collective effort of the team after they secured a 2-1 win against Al Wasl and along with it their sixth league crown in their history on Thursday night.
Despite making a strong start, Al Ahli fell behind to a sixth-minute free-kick from Ricardo de Oliveira. After ending the first half trailing their city opponents, Al Ahli secured the equaliser through a clinic finish from Ahmad Khalil in the 54th minute and then, four minutes later, Grafite broke the offside trap and prodded home for what proved to be the match-winner for the Red Knights.
“We have always worked to see ways and means to ensure the growth of this group of players as a team. And you can see this growth on the field. Whether we play good football or don’t, we made sure we continued this growth as a close-knit unit and this has yielded us the necessary result of the league title,” Raducan said.
“It is important to win a trophy as every trophy has its own history and every trophy makes you feel proud of the hard work one has put in. It’s like an investment and today we can see this investment yielding its first fruit,” he added.
