Dubai: Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu hopes his side will make up for their recent defeat to Al Nasr in the Arabian Gulf Cup when the two sides meet again in the second round of the Arabian Gulf League from 8.15pm on Thursday.
Al Nasr beat Dubai rivals Al Ahli 1-0 away in their cup opener two weeks ago and will now look to repeat that at home in the league against the defending champions.
“This game is completely different to the cup,” said Olaroiu. “Both sides were suffering from key absences in the cup due to players going on international duty. The competitions are dealt with differently and we don’t want to see a repeat of our loss.”
Both sides got off to a winning start in the league in last weekend’s opening round with Al Ahli beating Emirates Club 4-0 at home and Al Nasr winning 4-2 away to Al Dhafra.
“The priority is to win every game and we proceed step-by-step to compete in all tournaments,” added the Romanian. “It’s difficult but this group of players have shown strong character and don’t fear any team, we’re accustomed to fighting for victory in each game.
“Al Nasr have improved over recent years and are unlucky not to be in the Asian Champions League semi-finals,” he said in reference to the Blue Waves’ recent quarter-final exit to Qatar’s El Jaish.
Al Nasr had won the first leg 3-0 but the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) reversed the score-line to a 3-0 defeat after the Blues were accused of fielding a player on a forged passport.
Each club is allowed three foreigners plus one Asian player and Brazilian-born striker Wanderley Santos was occupying the Asian slot thanks to an apparently suspect Indonesian passport. Santos is currently suspended until investigations are completed.
“He’s a special player, one of the best strikers in the UAE, but I don’t think his absence will have a huge impact, especially when they have Salim Saleh as a replacement,” Olaroiu said of Santos.
“Al Nasr are always difficult to play against, it will be tough but we hope to use everything in our inventory to overcome this obstacle. The two teams know each other very well and these type of games are decided by small details.”
Elsewhere, on Thursday last season’s league runners-up Al Ain play Emirates Club away from 8.15pm looking to build upon their opening 1-0 win at home to Bani Yas last weekend.
“Emirates lost 4-0 away last week and that will give them a strong incentive to turn things around against us, so we should be careful,” said Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic.
After Al Nasr’s exit on a technicality Al Ain are the only UAE team still in the Asian Champions League. Confirmation of their two-legged semi-final clash with El Jaish at home on September 27 and away on October 18 has led to rescheduling in the league. Al Ain’s home game with Al Ahli on October 15 will now be played on December 31 while their away trip to Al Nasr on October 21 has been moved to October 23.
