Dubai: It is one step at a time for Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu as he shifts his gaze to having a match-ready squad for their President’s Cup quarter-finals against Dubai Club on Saturday.
Evenly balanced through regulation period, arch-rivals Al Ain and Al Ahli played out a goalless draw in their leg-16 match of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday. With this one out of the way, Olaroiu has the President’s Cup in sight next followed by the return leg of the Champions League on May 27.
“No game against Al Ain can be easy. We had a very good beginning where we created opportunities where we could have scored. But that did not happen and we had to be content with the draw,” Olaroiu told media after a barren 90 minutes.
“In the second half the tempo was down, and that was mostly due to the weather conditions. But our players still tried to create opportunities while giving Al Ain no chance of having a look at our goal. Now it is all to give in the second leg next week,” he added.
“The good thing is that we did not concede any goal and the bad thing is that we did not score from the chances we had. But I am happy that our players are motivated and determined and it will be all-out next week.”
Next week is a far cry for the Al Ahli coach at the moment with Saturday’s President’s Cup quarter-final against Dubai Club demanding his immediate attention. “Our priority right now is to recover physically and get ready for the May 23 match as it is a knockout game and it is not going to be easy. I only hope today’s match does not affect the level of our game [on Saturday],” Olaroiu said.
“The Champions League is a very important game and ideally we would have liked to concentrate on it 100 per cent without having to play the President’s Cup in-between. But this is the situation and from now on we have 48 hours to prepare for that next match,” he shrugged.
The Romanian housed no concerns on the abilities of his team to fight till the end for both trophies. “What can scare us?,” he retorted.
“The fitness is in our hands. We run more than any other team. Even if you bring European teams they can’t play three games in one week under these conditions. We treat all competitions in the same way. We don’t have any priority. For us, right now it is Dubai Club and then Al Ain,” he insisted.
