Al Ahli coach gears up for team's biggest tournament

Dubai: When Mehdi Ali was appointed caretaker coach at Al Ahli, he knew he had limited time in which to get his act together and revive the fortunes of the ailing UAE Football League champions.

Not just because Al Ahli had failed to hit the ground running where defending their UFL title was concerned, but chiefly because the Dubai-based outfit have a little over a month to get set for what is perhaps the biggest tournament in the club's history, the Fifa Club World Cup.

Ali was drafted in last week to fill the void resulting from the sacking of Ioan Andone after just five matches at the club.

And Friday night, as Al Ahli beat Al Nasr 2-1 on the road, Ali proved he has hit the nail on its head. Ahmad Khalil and Yousuf Jabbar scored a goal each and Eman Mobali pulled one back for hosts Al Nasr, who also had a late equaliser ruled out as off-side.

Al Ahli take on New Zealand's Auckland City in their first match during the tournament and Ali admitted there is much work still left to be done.

"This win was very important for us because it breeds confidence in the players... Al Nasr played a tough match and were down physically in the second half, but we have to work hard and our next games will be better," Ali said.

Ali insisted there was no substitute for hard work and that his side were faced with the "challenge" of working harder in the time until the Fifa Club World Cup.

Key dates

The Fifa Club World Cup is from December 9-19