Abu Dhabi: Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic hailed his second string team’s grit to rally from a two-goal deficit to hold Al Jazira to a 2-2 draw in the Arabian Gulf Cup opener at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium on Friday.
“The weather conditions were tough in the first half and we didn’t run well, the rate was low. We didn’t have required level during the first half of the play but picked up our acts together in the second,” said Dalic, adding that, he re-arranged his resources in the second half and that worked in their team’s favour in the end.
“In the second half, we had to do all the things that we did not do in the first of the movement. Passing the ball around well, we got those crucial goals and in the end it was a fair result for both the teams after 90 minutes,” revealed Dalic, who was all praise for substitute Saeed Al Kathiri who was instrumental in earning a penalty that Ryan Babel converted. He later got into the scoring act himself to save the day for Al Ain.
“Al Kathiri proved that he has the ability to score goals and he can rise to the occasion. In the last one year, he has confirmed that he has a good future. This match was a good opportunity for the players who have not be able to participate with the team for a long time. It was a good opportunity to watch the youngsters who are looking to confirm their merit,” revealed the Croatian.
However, Al Jazira coach Abel Braga was disappointed with the way his team let the two-goal lead slip in the second half. “We were very good in the first half and those two goals from which we led was deserving. But when you finish the first half with this lead over big opponent like Al Ain, you expect them to attack you relentlessly in the second half, and this is exactly what happened,” said Braga.
“We should’ve used our numerical advantage in the midfield over Al Ain and counter attack them to score more goals, but what happened was different, and they used counters to equalise,” revealed Braga, who accepted that conceding goals was a matter of concern for his team.
“I know that conceding goals in two games is a matter of concern but the nature of Al Jazira versus Al Ain matches is attack, attack and attack; what worries me more is allowing the opponent to score twice from counter attack in your ground. Al Ain didn’t press in midfield and didn’t force us to make mistakes, but they got advantage from some individual errors,” added Braga.
Meanwhile Al Ain forward Babel has put himself at the centre of a controversy after some tweets on Friday. The former Dutch International has shared a Daily Mail copy on his former Liverpool Manager Rafa Benitez. The article was headlined ‘Rafa Benitez slams critics after Real Madrid are accused of playing defensive football’ to which Babel tweeted ‘Hmm’.
