Abu Dhabi: Al Shabab coach Caio Junior has set the bar high for his side, insisting he believes a second-place finish in the Arabian Gulf League is eminently possible.
The Hawks supremo was speaking after watching his men go third in the table after Edgar’s 85th-minute winner secured a 1-0 home victory over plucky Fujairah on Sunday evening.
His upbeat mood contrasts sharply with that of Ajman supporters, who saw their side draw 3-3 at Al Wasl to condemn them to relegation.
Junior’s outfit, meanwhile, stole a march on Al Wahda in the fight for the third-and-final guaranteed AFC Champions League qualification spot.
Their narrow victory took them to 45 points, three ahead of the Abu Dhabi outfit, although Al Wahda would have moved ahead of Al Shabab with a win over newly crowned league champions Al Ain on Monday evening.
“I have spoken to my players and our target is the second position, and I believe it is possible,” Junior, who hoped Sharjah could do his side a favour by beating second-place Al Jazira on Monday evening, said.
The South American is now looking forward to Friday’s match at Jazira, whom he led to the 2012 President’s Cup and who are level on points with Al Shabab. He added: “I respect Jazira and I respect their players. I have worked there, I was happy there and I won a title with them.”
Al Shabab should have won more comfortably against Ivan Hasek’s side, who were a constant threat on the counter-attack, but hit the woodwork twice through Carlos Villanueva and substitute Eisa Obaid. The three points were all that counted for Junior, though, who said: “I am happy with these three points because Fujairah are a very difficult team to play against. I like Fujairah. They are a good team with good organisation and speed.
“I am also happy because we now have 45 points, which is already more than the 44 points Shabab finished with last season. This is very important for us.
“I don’t know what will happen in the coming matches, but we can say this season is definitely better than the last one.”
Elsewhere, Ajman’s relegation was sealed after a pulsating 3-3 draw at Al Wasl. Manuel Cajuda’s side failed to capitalise on Al Dhafra’s 1-0 defeat away to Bani Yas, 1-0, meaning they can no longer catch Dhafra with only two rounds of the season remaining. Ajman will join bottom side Kalba in the UAE First Division next season.
Boris Kabi had got Ajman off to the perfect start by opening the scoring from the penalty spot after eight minutes, only for Caio Canedo to equalise with a header 11 minutes before the break.
Ajman regained the lead after 54 minutes through Driss Fettouhi’s spot-kick and went 3-1 up a minute later via Mohammad Alantaly’s strike.
However, Canedo netted his second of the match just past the hour mark and Ederson fired home a 65th-minute penalty to restore parity and condemn Ajman to the drop.
Former Everton striker Denis Stracqualursi scored the winner for Bani Yas against Al Dhafra to take his side above Fujairah into eighth place, while 2014 league champions Al Ahli cruised to a 3-0 win at Kalba thanks to goals from Abdul Aziz Sanqour, Everton Ribeiro and an Habib Al Fardan penalty.
