Dubai: Mahdi Ali believes his team is on the mend following a gutsy 1-1 draw against leaders Al Ain in 14th round action of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Friday.
“At this juncture I can only thank all my players for the qualities they displayed on the field against an opponent who has been the strongest this season. They gave everything tonight. We were not looking for three points. And other than the one point I have reason to smile for the return of the spirit within the team,” Ali told media.
“We were down by a goal, but yet we fought back and scored the equaliser. This is the spirit we were looking for and I can only hope that along with this result will come the confidence and belief for the remainder of the season,” he hoped.
Swedish striker Marcus Berg got his seventh of the season to give the visiting Al Ain the lead. But Saeed Jassim came off the bench to nod in the equaliser eleven minutes later. The home team then weathered a series of attacks and had the framework come to their rescue on at least two occasions to scamper away with a point.
“Today our team showed they wanted to play. They were disciplined and the spirit and motivation was good. They stayed as a group in attack and defence and this was a good sign,” Ali noted.
“This performance will give us a good feel to come back during the remaining part of the league. We can be further hopeful for the future especially after the injured players make a return. I am sure things will only get better,” he added.
