Abu Dhabi: Title chasers Al Jazira and Al Ain meet at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium on Sunday in the highlight in round five of the UAE’s Arabian Gulf League (AGL).
Al Ain’s chances in the AFC Champions League may have ended at the semi-final stage last week, but they have no time to dwell on their 4-2 aggregate defeat by Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.
The high voltage return leg at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium will have taken a toll on their players and it will be interesting to see if they have recovered in time for Sunday’s crunch outing.
Al Ain, who have won their first two outings in the AGL, also will be without ace striker Asamoah Gyan, who misses the Al Jazira clash due to the red card he earned against Al Hilal.
Coach Zlatko Dalic revealed he was battling against time to get the team ready.
“The preparatory program scheduled did not leave the team with much opportunity to spend holiday time during the religious occasion of Eid Al Adha. The game comes just days after the end of the journey in front of home fans but there is no time to talk about the past — we can be proud of the team,” said Dalic.
“On Sunday we play a strong team and it is an important match for both sides, who are vying to improve their position in the league.
“Al Jazira are a strong contender in this championship so we should be at our best. I’m hoping my team will be in the highest degree of readiness to face Al Jazira.
“We will miss Gyan and, personally, I don’t like this rule of carrying the booking of one tournament into another. But we have no choice but to accept this rule.”
Al Ain’s Korean recruit Lee Myung-joo was of the view that the team should look to the future and focus on the next task.
“We are well aware that the recent AFC contest has become a thing of the past and we have great challenges ahead in the season. We will require greater concentration and will redouble efforts to achieve our next goals,” Lee said.
Al Jazira, who are currently placed third, come into the match following a thrilling 3-3 draw away at Al Dhafra. Their former Juventus striker Mirko Vucinic scored a double in the last outing and is at the top of the scoring charts with six goals from four matches.
“We have waited for big games and to have a big match against a big team. We will know what our position is in this competition after this game,” said Al Jazira coach Eric Gerets.
“The most important thing to do after a game is to analyse and show the players what went wrong and what is the responsibility of all. Everyone knows we made mistakes in two of the three goals in the last match. For me, it was best of the four games and I will not change my defence because we made mistakes.
“We have played good football and hope that we will play with positivity, high speed and high mentality.”
Another big match on Sunday sees league leaders Al Wahda, who dropped their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw at home to Sharjah last week, take on second-placed Al Shabab.
