Prandelli wary of depleted Sharjah

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Ajman,” revealed Ten Cate, who rated his opponents Ajman as tough competitors with a squad that can stun any team on a given day.

“Ajman is a good team, they have great players and they are disciplined. I watched their match in the Arabian Gulf Cup and I have taken a measure of their strength and weaknesses. It is going to be a good contest,” said Ten Cate.

Meanwhile, Al Ain, after seeing their AFC Champions League semifinals hope crash following their 3-0 loss against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal will be looking for redemption when they start their local league campaign against Al Wasl on Saturday.

Coach Zoran Mamic’s tactics had come under a lot of criticism following the Hilal clash and he will have plenty to prove in the local scene. Brazilian forwards Caio, Douglas and the new comer Marcus Berg from Sweden struggled and they will have to improve on their striking prowess for Al Ain to fancy any chances of taking a shot at the top spot. Having been pitted straightaway with formidable outfits Al Wasl, it will be interesting to see how they go about their business; especially at a time when they are coming into the contest at the back of a morale shattering loss.

Another capital outfit who will be looking for a solid start in the AGL will be Al Wahda when they meet Dibba. The former gave evidence of shaping well under new coach Laurentiu Reghecampf in their 1-1 draw against rebranded Club Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in the Arabian Gulf Cup last week.

They were very effective in their formations and more importantly, their long-serving star veteran Ismail Matar and Argentine striker Sebastian Tagliabue looked in good form.

Sharjah’s inability to get business done early won’t limit them at home to Al Nasr today, according to opposition coach Cesare Prandelli.

The Kings, who recently merged with Al Shaab, have only confirmed two of their allocated four foreigners, with Australian defender Ryan McGowan joining from China’s Guizhou Zhicheng over the summer, followed by Chilean midfielder Cesar Pinares from Union Espanola.

Pinares’ three-year deal worth US$3 million was only confirmed on Wednesday leaving him unlikely to feature in today’s season-opener from 8.30pm at Sharjah Stadium. Jose Peseiro’s side were also set to land Magno Cruz from South Korea’s Jeju United earlier this week, but the Brazilian midfielder reportedly failed a medical.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan striker Gelmin Rivas was sold to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal midweek leaving Sharjah with just one foreigner — McGowan — set to play against Al Nasr.

Prandelli’s side in comparison have completed their foreign quartet with BrazilianmidfielderMarceloCirinojoining on loan from Atletico Paranaense to accompany retained compatriot striker Wanderley Santos, Lebanese defender Joan Oumari and Moroccan midfielder Abdel Aziz Barrada. “When a team has strong character they can get over absences, foreign players included,” said the former Italy and Fiorentina coach. “Sharjah is a team of strong character so they will not be affected.

“We are very much concentrating because we want to have a good start to the season and we are playing against a team who is very organised and plays good football, but we are ready.

“We’re always well motivated and very much keen to correct our mistakes from the opening cup match,” he said of their 3-0 win at home to Ajman last week in the first round of the Arabian Gulf Cup — Sharjah lost their opener 2-0 at home to Emirates.

“After so many years in football, I can tell you every game is a different story, so the fact Sharjah lost their last game won’t affect this match, I’m sure we’ll find a team with different motivation against us, however it will be up to us to remind them that with offensive football we can hurt them. The idea is to give them as many difficulties as possible.

“The cup game against Ajman has given us hints of what we can do this season but those hints are very limited at the moment, so we are very much focused on our own game and always want to play positive football. After we’ve played all teams at the end of the first half of the season, we’ll have a clear idea of what our targets will be.

“After every game we will look at our mistakes and see how we can improve, every game is a separate story and we are taking each match at a time. We want to improve game after game and if we are able to do so then in the long run we will be able to climb higher and higher.”