Sport | Football

Defenders Al Jazira could break league title jinx

Win raises team's hope of being first club to retain title

  • By Ashley Hammond, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 November 4, 2011
  • Gulf News

Fierce clash
  • Image Credit: Arshad Ali/Gulf News
  • Al Wasl coach Diego Maradona gestures to the team during the Etisalat Pro League at Al Wasl Club in Dubai (left). Juma Abdullah of Al Jazira makes an all-out attempt to stop Juan Olivera (yellow) of Al Wasl as Abdullah Mousa closes in during their Etisalat Pro League clash at Al Wasl Club in Dubai.

Dubai: The UAE league title hasn't been consecutively retained by any one club since 2004, but Al Jazira's 1-0 win over Al Wasl at Zabeel Stadium on Wednesday night gave Frank Vercauteren's defending champions enough reason to believe they could finally break the seven-year curse.

Somewhat on the back foot and against the run of play, Matias Delgado belted in a low effort off the right post on 53 minutes to beat billboard opponents Al Wasl, in an early barometer of power just four games into the new campaign.

Both tied at the top of the table with seven points from two wins and a draw apiece heading into the showdown, Al Jazira is now three points clear on 10 points from four matches.

Al Wasl had two efforts disallowed on 29 and 55 minutes, first as Rashid Eisa strayed offside and second when he was adjudged to have handled in the box.

Then on 76 minutes a Mariano Donda chip was tipped over the bar and on 79 minutes Juan Manuel Olivera's head, rebound and stabbed shot combination grazed the crossbar. Richard Porta's overhead kick went wide on 82 minutes and on 86 minutes the last of Al Wasl's wastages went begging after Darwish Ahmad squandered a free header.

New Jazira coach Frank Vercauteren heralded the game as an answer to any doubts about his side's conviction, following the departure of his predecessor Abel Braga. While Al Wasl's Diego Maradona refused to concede the title race so soon, pointing the finger at one-sided referreeing and time-wasting as a reason for the loss.

Vercauteren said: "If you take over from a team that won twice [last year's league and cup double] it's always difficult to confirm. A lot of questions have been asked as to whether they are still hungry, do they want to repeat and do the same as what they did."

"That's what I asked my players today and this was the moment for them to show their quality and hunger — I think we gave the right answer on the field to all that was said in the lead up to this game."

"We tried to block them, stop second balls, long balls and keep them out of our 16 — but on the other hand we tried to play our game with our qualities as well. It was a balance between adapting so we could play better not only to stop our opponent."

"You win with 11 on the field and the mentality and spirit of the team. Most important for me was that it's not one player but the team — we deserved the win," added Vercauteren.

An emotional Maradona, furious with referee Hamad Al Hashemi said: "The result will not affect the race for the title. A draw would have been a fair result. Their goal came from one chance where we were not concentrating. Then we missed a very clear opportunity to equalise via Olivera when he hit the crossbar."

"I don't regret the formation or tactics. I'm proud because my team created as many as 10 clear chances and we made Al Jazira suffer. I'm going to continue with Al Wasl and this does not affect the title race — I'll stick by Al Wasl in good and bad and we'll prove ourselves in future matches."

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