Dubai: Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic urged his players not to give up on their dream of reaching the Asian Champions League semi-final, despite seeing last month’s 3-0 quarter-final first leg win away to Qatar’s El Jaish reversed to a 3-0 defeat on Monday.
The Asian Football Confederation took the decision to reverse the result after Al Nasr’s Brazilian-born striker Wanderley Santos — who scored two in their first leg win — was allegedly found to be playing under a fake Indonesian passport.
All teams can field up to three foreign players plus one of Asian citizenship but Al Nasr stand accused of falsifying the Asian status of their player.
Al Nasr now enters Wednesday’s second leg at home (from 8.45pm UAE time) with a mountain to climb not least because of the reversed score line, but also because Wanderley is suspended.
Nevertheless Jovanovic has called for his players to make a stand against the decision with an even better second leg performance.
“We’ve all worked hard over these last few years to bring Al Nasr to where it stands today,” he said. “We’ve been through good and bad times but worked together to overcome many problems, and we will continue to work together to overcome the problem we are facing today.
“The fans have helped us get this far and they need to know they have a very strong team that is capable of overcoming any obstacle.
“I don’t want them to remember us only by wins and good results. I also want them to remember our character as a team when we are facing a difficult situation.
“I’m sure we will do what we have to on the field. I don’t want to be left thinking about how unfair this decision was or what might have been.”
“We had a dream that was already achieved. We were [virtually] through to the semi-finals and now this. The dream is not as before but we will have to adapt to the new situation and prepare players mentally for this new challenge.
“Football is a game of feelings, not only about the technical and the tactical,” he said of having to throw his plans out of the window with less than 48 hours to go until the second leg. “It’s also about psychology of the team and for that we still have 48 hours.”
Jovanovic also called on the AFC to act fairly when it came to investigating players with suspect dual nationality.
“I hope they will continue with the same speed and passion as they have done with us, to investigate all players in Asia who have dual nationality. This decision is very strict on Al Nasr at a time when the club is enjoying an historic run. So I hope they do the same with other teams and players, we will be here and we will be waiting.”
