Sharjah eye return to top of pile

Abu Dhabi: Sharjah won the UAE's first ever football league way back in 1973-74 and will be looking to repeat the feat with the nation's first professional league.

The club open their UAE Football League campaign with an important fixture away to Al Ain.

The hosts, who have won the league nine times and have dominated UAE domestic football over the last decade, has a disastrous season by their own high standards last year when they failed to win any silverware.

Sharjah, who were the dominant club before Al Ain, have come close in recent years.

They were in the hunt for the title last season before settling for fourth place.

With Anderson leading the attack, Sharjah have one of the best strikers in the UAE.

The Brazilian emerged as the top scorer once again last season.

And with fellow countryman Roberto Lopes along with Ghanaian striker Abdul Nafiu Idrissu, the team have a trio of quality imports.

With the experienced Abdul Aziz Anbary, aerial ball specialist Saeed Al Kas and the talented Nawaf Mubarak, Sharjah will pose most teams problems.

Serious attempt

And with the Tunisian coach Youssef Al Zawawi at the helm, Sharjah will be looking to make a serious attempt at winning the inaugural UFL.

Al Ain, led by German coach Winfred Schaefer, have high hopes for their new Chilean sensation Jorge Valdivia as well as Brazilian Andre Diaz.

The presence of Moroccan Soufiane Al Alloudi should add some extra solidity to the side.

Valdivia dazzled in Al Ain's 4-0 win over Oman's Al Shabab in their final practice match.

Much depends on how the midfield functions in the absence of Subait Khater and Hilal Saeed,

But the 2003 Asian Club champions still have plenty of quality in their squad including a number of UAE national players.

"I am happy with the quality of players but my squad needs more time to forge an effective combination.

"We will improve as we progress but we are ready," said Schaefer, who led Al Ahli to the league title three seasons ago.

Last season, Al Ain lost their away game 2-1 in a hot-tempered match which saw five yellow cards and Al Ain skipper Fahad Ali being sent off in the dying minutes of the game. The return leg in Al Ain ended in a 3-3 draw.