Abu Dhabi: Werder Bremen became the winner of the first UAE-German Super Cup after beating Al Ain 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Al Ain fielded a second string team, in the absence of the team's international players who are with the UAE national team. Along with this, some key players including their captain Jorge Valdivia, Jose Sand and Waleed Salem were on the bench due to injuries.
Despite this, the match was competitive and exciting with both teams exchanging organised moves, specially in the second half when Al Ain came out of their shell, having trailed 2-0 by the end of the first half.
Claudio Pizzaro scored twice within the last five minutes of the first half, giving Bremen a deserving lead following their dominance of the match.
But Al Ain came stronger after the interval and exchanged attacks with the Germans, succeeding in reducing the deficit when youngster Abdul Aziz Fayez went behind the defenders to score his team's consolation goal.
Almost there
Emerson, the Brazilian striker of Al Ain, almost scored the equaliser in the 87th minute but his fierce long range shot was deflected by the post.
Toninho Cerezo, the head coach of Al Ain, said "These matches are very important to us specially to our young players who can learn a great deal from playing against stronger teams with history and achievements like Werder Bremen, bearing in mind that we will enter the AFC Champions League this year.
Praise
"We played with a number of young players who replaced their more experienced colleagues who were either with the UAE team or injured and they have proved their true worth, specially Abdul Aziz Fayez, who did not feel scared playing against the German giants.
"We are planning to provide the chance for our young players, whenever possible, because they are the future of the team. Matches like these are ideal to prepare them for the future."
