Ahli look to conjure up fitting farewell to Rashid Stadium
dubai — With their fate or destiny still up in the air, Al Ahli will be looking to conjure perhaps a fitting farewell to the Rashid Stadium, when they host their Saudi Arabian namesake in the AFC Champions League
The return leg of the Round of 16 is the final fixture of the season before the clubs go into the summer break and it is special in more ways than one.
The game, late on Monday night, could be the last Al Ahli play at what was their fortress, before a rebranded Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club moves to its new home at the Dubai FC Stadium in Al Awir.
They may cease to be a football club, but Al Ahli could continue the dream for a little while longer if they come on the right side of the result against Al Ahli Saudi.
A quarterfinal spot stares at them in the face as the Red Knights bid to replicate the 2015 season when they finished runners-up to Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande.
“If we go to the quarterfinals, we can be whatever we can be… Shabab, Al Ahli, Dubai, Fujairah, Jazira or whatever. But the most important thing is to make it to the quarterfinals. After that we can see. We can be whatever we can be,” Ahli’s coach Cosmin Olaroiu said in good humour, at his pre-match press briefing, on Sunday.
“The last game in the season and we want to go with a good result with qualification, of course. After the difficult moments and great efforts we make in this season I hope the players find the energy, the power, the strength and motivation to make one more step and pass this obstacle. I know it will not be easy. Al Ahli is a very, very strong team and they have a lot of quality players. But I think we have the possibility and we are going to do our best to go past them,” he added.
Qualification was on the Romanian’s mind and it didn’t matter how they get it. “I don’t know how the game will pan out, the scenario of the game. The most important thing is the end of the game and Al Ahli Dubai to go through to the quarterfinals. We have to play good to pass this test and I hope our players they will do it again and I hope they will show their strong character one more time,” said the 47-year-old.
Olaroiu also urged fans to cut across club loyalties and support the two UAE representatives in the competition.
“The team needs the support especially in such a game. And here, us and Al Ain, we represent the UAE and not just ourselves. We represent the country and football from the Emirates and both teams need their supporters behind them in this battle,” said Olaroiu.
Meanwhile, Brazilian playmaker Everton Ribeiro did not delve much into his reported departure from the club to join native club Flamengo, rather focussing on the task ahead. “It is the last game of the last game in our season and we need one more big effort to try and qualify for the next round and finish this season in a good way. That is what we are looking forward to in the next game,” said Ribeiro.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli Saudi coach Christian Gross said: “We are all looking forward to this final game. It is more or less a final. Expectations are high but we are willing to give everything. And of course, we need to at least score two goals or three goals. But we need to find the right balance between good defence and attack. As always, the start of a game is very important. Our preparations have been good I’m confident and I hope we can repeat the performance we had in the first leg. But we also need to score goals.”