Abu Dhabi: Al Ain coach Zoran Mamic minced no words in expressing his displeasure over the scheduling of the Arabian Gulf Cup quarter-finals.
Al Ain are scheduled to play Al Wahda on Friday at 5.15pm at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium but the hosts will be missing a large part of their squad as they are attending national duty in Kuwait.
Mamic was of the view that the contest with Al Wahda cannot be termed as a local derby when one team has so many players missing.
“I think that when your team misses more than 90 per cent of its real power, it is very difficult to launch for the title,” said Mamic. “Derby matches are ruthless but in this case you should be just calling it a match and there is no justice to this competition.”
Mamic said during international commitments, the domestic tournaments have to take a back seat and the federation should understand that there should be a level to compete.
“At least to involve in a contest you require 50 per cent of the players in the team but it is difficult to change anything at the moment. Al Ain is a great team and it is a fact that it is one of the strongest clubs in the continent of Asia. So it demands to preserve the character in all of the challenges,” said Mamic adding that he and his team will still do everything in their powers to ensure a positive result against Al Wahda.
“Whatever the circumstances, we will try to play to the best potential so that we can move into the next stage,” said the Croatian adding that, one has to also be realistic here and understand about vacuum that had been left by the players who are not here.
Al Ain are yet to review the contract of their star midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman but coach Mamic assured that the ace playmaker isn’t going anywhere.
“Amoori is with the club and continues to be with us. I’m confident that the signing will be done as soon as he returns from his national team commitments,” said Mamic, who also didn’t deny or accept the rumours of Al Ain closing in on getting Jazira forward Ahmed Khalil on board.
“I do not think that any one knows if the player (Khalil) is still under contract with Jazira or not but he is a good player and personally I would be happy in the case of bringing a quality player like Khalil and any other international,” said Mamic.
Fixtures: Friday
Al Ain v Al Wahda, 5.15pm
Al Nasr v Al Wasl, 8pm
