Dubai: Cosmin Olaroiu hailed his Red Knights after Al Ahli had kept their hopes alive for a place at next season’s AFC Champions League following a hard-fought 2-1 win over already relegated Bani Yas late on Saturday.
Makhete Diop put the home team in the clear in the sixth minute when he accepted a through pass from Everton Ribeiro and blasted in past goalkeeper Sultan Al Daheri only to see Bani Yas level the scores in the 22nd minute through Ezekiel Henty. However, last year’s champions earned the match-winner when Ghanaian Asamoah Gyan nodded in a high floater from Ribeiro seven minutes into the second half.
The three points meant that Al Ahli went up to 56 points and remained in the fray for a spot in the 2018 AFC Champions League after ending third in the standings after Al Jazira (68) and Al Wasl (57).
New champions Al Jazira took one spot late on Friday following their 4-0 thrashing of Al Dhafra, while Al Wasl made a return to the big league following their hard-fought 1-0 away win against Hatta. The third automatic spot will go to the winner of the President’s Cup that is scheduled to be contested between Al Wahda and Al Nasr on May 18, while third-placed Al Ahli will now have to take the longer route of featuring in the play-offs to decide if the UAE will have four teams in the AFC Champions League next year.
“I am really disappointed because we finished in third, but I don’t blame my players as I am well aware of the situation they are facing. So far, they have not got the respect they deserve as individuals for the work they have put in to reach so far. No one from the management has bothered to even congratulate the players for what they have achieved under tough circumstances,” Olaroiu fumed.
“This has been the toughest season for me as a coach here. This team doesn’t have any other motivation, other than my work. Unfortunately, this is not really a good situation to be in. They have put in so much effort, and even if on occasions they have not played well they have always had the spirit to do their best. The fatigue level is way too high at the moment and we are always thinking about how to make these players recover in time for the next match. And yet, we do our best to honour UAE football in the Asian League and at the same time play to our best in the domestic competitions,” he added.
“From a players’ point of view I am happy that we are still there for the AFC Champions League for next season. But at the moment, it is all about finding ways to play our next match [on May 22 against Al Ahli, Jeddah] and after that the home game during Ramadan [on May 29]. We are in talks with our medical staff to see how we can deal with this. I am not sure what we can do, but right now the most important thing is to complete the first game [on May 22],” Olaroiu stressed.