Dubai: Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club’s merger will have no impact in Friday’s away trip to Al Ain, according to the Al Ghusais club’s forward Henrique Luvannor.
Al Ahli and Al Ain were fierce rivals sharing five of the past six Arabian Gulf League titles until Al Ahli merged with Al Shabab and Dubai Club at the end of last season.
Their first match against their old foes since the amalgamation will be just as competitive though — this Friday from 8.15pm at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium — according to Luvannor who has been filtered into the new collective from his old side Al Shabab.
“The only thing that’s changed is the shirt,” said the Brazilian, who scored his first goal for the new club in a 3-1 win away to Ajman last week.
“We will always see Al Ain as a derby and it doesn’t matter about the past, it will be the same players on the pitch trying to win.
“Harmony hasn’t been hard because I know the players, whether they were at Al Ahli or Al Shabab,” he said of his own integration. “My goal is the same as the group, we want to win championships.
“Al Ain presents a strong challenge and we want to give our best to get a positive result.”
The Rashid Stadium-based side are currently second in the league behind Al Wahda on goal difference after two wins from the first two games of the season. Al Ain are two points behind in third.
Shabab Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu, who used to manage Al Ain before defecting to Al Ahli and staying on with the new collective, agreed with Luvannor.
“I don’t expect the game to be affected after the merger,” he said. “It’s a strong match and apart from the two sides always playing to win and compete for championships, this game always has a special character.
“The players on both sides always have a desire to provide a strong game for the supporters. It’s an opportunity and a serious test for us to assess the level and reality of this team’s chances.
“These games are always fun, against one of the strongest sides in the league.”
Olaroiu also fired a warning to his players however, particularly after conceding early openers before going on to win against both Hatta 4-1 and Ajman 3-1 recently.
“We have to be a lot more focused at the beginning of the game, especially as the players are exerting a lot of effort after going a goal behind and then looking for compensation.”
He also repeated his complaint about time wasting, saying: “The actual time with the ball in play in our last game was just 51 minutes out of a total 97.
“Most of the games are facing the same problem. The longest match for actual playing time last week was Al Wahda’s victory over Al Nasr, where the ball was kept in play for just 55 minutes.
“I have great confidence that the competent committees are able to deal with this problem, because it is very important, and the real time for matches should be increased until the level is higher and more enjoyable.”
Elsewhere this weekend, top of the league Al Wahda play Al Dhafra at home on Friday, while defending champions Al Jazira are at home to Al Nasr on Saturday. Last year’s runners-up Al Wasl are also away to Sharjah on Saturday.
