Dubai: The Romanian duo of Cosmin Olaroiu and Mirel Radoi are hoping to continue with their successful partnership and help Al Ahli’s trophy-winning success.
Romanian Radoi was announced as the club’s first major signing for the new season late on Tuesday, joining fellow countryman and coach Olaroiu, who helped the Red Knights to three domestic titles last season, at the club.
Radoi has spent three seasons with Al Ain, during which time the 33-year-old won two league crowns, the President’s Cup and a Super Cup at the Garden City club.
Olaroiu has banked heavily on his playmaker in earlier stints at Steaua Bucuresti and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, while handing his trusted lieutenant the captain’s armband while at Al Ain.
“Every club that I have been to, I want to do something for the team. I am a team person. I don’t mind being the worst player as long as my team wins. I want to give not just 100 per cent, but even 150 per cent to bring more trophies to Al Ahli,” Radoi said after being welcomed by Ahmad Khalifa Hamad, CEO, Al Ahli.
“I will try to use all my experience for the sake of the youngsters so that we can all grow professionally as a team. One of the things I will do is try and control myself and try to be near to the team just like last year,” he added.
“Al Ahli has a very good set of players. I have watched them last year or before even while I was with Al Hilal. “Now I have more experience and I can help them with a new mentality, and one of these is that they need to know they should never give up on the field till the end.”
After a successful season, Olaroiu is targeting continental glory along with domestic dominance at Al Ahli this year. “All teams are looking to win the league and more trophies. They are all taking measures to see that they get better, but for us at Al Ahli our target is the Asian Champions League. We are going to put a strategy in place from the start and have a team that can play to their full potential in all competitions,” Olaroiu said.
“One of the situations we faced last year was that I could depend only on a few players. This year everything is going to be a bit different and I want players to compete against each other for their places in the team. I will try my best to do more. I have won the league three years in a row and it is time to add a few more challenges.”
