Dubai: Al Wasl coach Gabriel Calderon was left brimming with delight with the prospect of better days ahead following his side’s 4-0 thrashing of defending champions Al Ahli in 16th week action of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) late on Friday.
Uzbekistan turned Brazilian Fabio De Lima scored a brace, while Caio Correa and substitute Abdullah Kazim scored one each in a dominant display against the Red Knights. The team from Al Zabeel stayed in eighth place, just one point behind Al Ahli, who are currently in seventh with 23 points.
“This is a win that my players can truly celebrate. I respect all teams and I keep telling my players to pay special attention to defence. Once we get this right then our individual brilliance will definitely show through,” Calderon told media.
“Right now my sole attention is to get my players recuperated for our next match. I have this policy of changing at least two defenders in each match and this can be quite difficult for the entire team. After four months of working with them we have finally started getting it right,” the Argentinean added.
Calderon was confident that despite wavering performances in the past, Al Wasl can only get better from now on. “For one, the confidence in my team will be high after this big win. This has been one of our best matches. We didn’t play well against Al Dhafra and we won. We played very well against Al Ain and we still lost. Tonight we played well, clamped down our defence and then suddenly our individual talent shone through. I keep telling my players to consider all matches like finals and we need to enter the field with this frame of mind from now on,” he suggested.
“I have ample experience in this region and I am aware than any team can defeat any of the other sides. So I go with maximum respect for all teams and hope my players can carry out the instructions given to them,” he added.
Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu was apologetic for the heavy loss. “I know the supporters are upset and I apologise to the supporters. It’s not very nice what we have done, but this is football. When you make mistakes you have to pay a price,” the Romanian said.
Olaroiu, however, maintained that referring decisions led to the loss. “We dominated the game and there were at least three clear off-side decisions that went against us. This year we have had a lot of problems especially with the referees. And when you get decisions going against you the concentration falls and you are bound to make mistakes. My observation of this region is that coaches here have many responsibilities but very little say in the decisions taken,” he added.
