Abu Dhabi: With an authoritative 2-0 win over Al Jazira on Friday, Al Ain showed they were the actually the ‘Bosses’ as they moved to the top of Arabian Gulf League (AGL) table.
Such was the dominance that all that rival coach Abel Braga could have done was to watch his opponent’s fiery display in awe and later applaud it. “Al Ain has many excellent elements, distinguished by teamwork. That was obvious when they scored the first goal,” said Braga, whose team clearly couldn’t match the guile of a cohesive unit who were on the charge in front of their home crowd.
Omar Abdul Rahman, when in full flow, is simply a treat to watch and Friday he was very effective, especially in the second half. The opening goal that he set up for Lee Myung-joo was a mesmerising effort down the middle which ripped open the Al Jazira defence.
“The better team won. They have great individuals but also excel in team play. This was clear in the first goal. Emenike, Omar and Felippe Bastos, they work in harmony together, which proves they are a very strong team,” added Braga, whose side now are 10 points behind the table-toppers and has seemingly brought the curtains down on their title hopes as it was his side’s three defeat in seven games.
Braga, who was roped in this summer in place of the reputed Eric Gerets to repeat his success of 2011 when he took the team to the title, has failed to deliver and will be clearly under fire after this telling blow.
The 63-year-old accepted that their title dreams have been dashed and all that he and his team can do now is fight for pride. “Mathematically speaking, this is impossible. We are going to continue the hard work and have players with an offensive attitude, but we lack other aspects. Through time and hard work we will evolve,” asserted Braga.
Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic, on the other hand, has been a revelation and many would have not given his team a chance after the exit of their star Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan. Critics had also come hard on his signings for this season but clearly, the Croatian has a knack of transforming any unit into a force.
Dalic declared Saturday’s performance from his team as one of the best under his tutelage. “We respected our competitors and realised we were playing against a big opponent in the championship. The fans are also one of the reasons why the team has played so good,” said the 49-year-old, whose side now have a three points edge over second-placed Al Nasr on 15 points.
“My team played their best game so far this season. We did everything that we prepared for in the meeting and in training. The players showed everything on the field. I’m very happy. Thank you to our fans for their big support,” added Dalic.
In another outing on Friday, a hat-trick from Sebastian Tagliabue saw Al Wahda rally from a goal down to thrash bottom-placed Al Shaab 4-1 and swell their points tally to 10.
