Abu Dhabi: It was a case of ‘so near yet so far’ for coach Henk Ten Cate and his Al Jazira side.
The 2-1 defeat at the hands of Iran’s Persepolis saw the Pride of Abu Dhabi knocked out of the AFC Champions League on away goals after the teams were tied 4-4 on aggregate at the Azadi Stadium on Monday.
Al Jazira had equalised through their Brazilian striker Romarinho after Ahmad Nourollahi had put the hosts in the lead with a breathtaking strike after being kept at bay for 62 minutes.
A 1-1 result would have been enough for Jazira to go through but, two minutes from time, Seyed Jalal Hosseini struck from the centre of the box to steal victory for Persepolis. Al Jazira fans’ heart would have sunk as Ali Mabkhout’s curling effort kissed the fingertips of Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and went wide.
“We were at our best for 80 minutes,” said Al Jazira coach Ten Cate, whose future with the club is still not clear as his contract is yet to be renewed. He won the domestic Arabian Gulf League title in his second season with the club last year, but it is unclear if he will continue for a third campaign.
“We put up a good performance and we changed the tactics which allowed us to draw level,” he added. Then we gave space and allowed them the opportunity to send in long balls. I’m proud of my players for the spirit they showed playing in front of 100,000 rival fans. It was a great effort. We needed to qualify and we were so close to doing that. Towards the end also we came close.”
It was the first time that Al Jazira had gone this far in the continental showpiece event and the 63-year-old deserves a lot of credit for that.
However, recently Ten Cate has been mulling about his future with the club as he felt it was getting a bit taxing for him to keep a balance between club and family. It will be interesting to see what the Dutchman opts for in the coming days. However, one thing is clear, his presence has seen a resurgence in the Al Jazira team and the longer he stays, the better for the club and their players.
Al Jazira’s Emirati striker Ali Mabkhout was of the view that Al Jazira could hold their heads high for the effort they put on the field against Persepolis.
“We played well and did well to keep the game alive until the final whistle. We played to our strength and nearly had the game won if not for a mistake in the last minutes of the game,” he said. “Obviously, we are very disappointed but we walk away with our heads up.”
