Confident Caio says UAE club can compete with the best
Having been named by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as the UAE’s Club of the 20th Century, in recent years Al-Wasl have fallen behind the likes of Al-Ain, Al-Shabab, Al-Ahli and Al-Jazira in the domestic pecking order. But Caio has told them all to watch out because if he has his way that is about to change.
“I’m going to make this happen, you can mark my words,” a confident Caio told Arab News. “Al-Wasl is a huge club and we’re bringing this back. Everybody is together on one objective and we are bringing this back.
“Al-Ain, Al-Ahli, Al-Jazira they are well known because they participate in the Champions League every year, financially they are very powerful, they have a lot of money. All these years they fight for the title, the progress that we’re doing now they did before and collected the results.
“Now it’s our turn, I feel like it’s our turn, and believe me I’m going to make this happen. Al-Wasl is going to become huge again, we’re going to put Al-Wasl at the top where it should never have left.”
With that as their mission, Caio and his team-mates are half way to achieving their objective. At the half way point of the Arabian Gulf League Al-Wasl are top ahead of Al-Ain on goal difference, and as Caio explained they are determined to finish the season strongly and deliver the club their first title since 2007.
“I’m very confident,” the 27-year-old said. “I think we’re doing a great season so far. I think we have to keep our foot on the ground, we know the second part of the season is very difficult. Many teams (are) fighting relegation, some teams fighting for the title, some teams want to clinch in the Champions League next year. So we’ve got to be careful, we’ve got to be smart.
“First round we finished tied with Al-Ain and second round we want to be better, better than we were in the first round, so the mentality changes. Me as a leader of the team, I put this mentality on every player’s head so they actually believe we are a strong contender and are fighting for the title this year.”
Caio forms one part of an attacking trio, with fellow Brazilians Fabio Lima and Ronaldo Mendes, that has terrorized defenses over the past 18 months, scoring 69 of the 79 goals Al-Wasl have scored across last season and the first half of this season.
With all three now locked away on long-term contracts the Dubai-based side are well positioned to challenge for silverware each and every year. Finishing second last year, Caio credits a lot of their turnaround in fortunes over the past 18 months to the arrival of Argentine coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena.
“He’s a great coach,” Caio said of the 42-year-old former Boca Juniors manager. “He was a football player before, he talks the player’s language. He knows how to treat the players, he knows when you have to be tough, rough, strong with the players, (and) he knows when you can joke with the players.
“He gives us freedom. I speak for myself because I play as a striker, so the players who play with me in attack, he gives us freedom to move around and play our football. I play with Fabio, we like to play, we like the ball at our feet, so he gives us this freedom to move around, of course with the responsibility that when we lose the ball we have to come and help the team defend.”
But while the personal accolades are nice, it is team success that is ultimately driving Caio.
“Scoring goals is unbelievable, I love scoring goals. Anyone who has played football knows the feeling from scoring goals, but I always put the win before everything,” he said.
“Individual quality will show up if the group is doing great. And this is what is happening, we’re in first place, playing excellent football so individual quality is standing out naturally.
“I’m very satisfied that on such a team everyone helps each other, there’s no show-offs, no one wants to be better than anybody. This year and last year has been so exciting because everyone is (working) toward one objective – we have to make history.”
They have already created one piece of history, breaking the AGL record for the most matches without defeat, which now sits at 26, with their last loss coming all the way back in January when they fell 3-2 to champions Al-Jazira.
With the AGL resuming in early January after its one-month mid-season break, and with Al-Wasl’s first match being at home to Al-Ain in a top-of-thetable clash, the challenge now for Caio and his team-mates is to continue the momentum and build on the foundations they have laid down in the first half of the season.
“Like we say in Brazil, the wind is in our favor and we have to surf this wave,” he said.
LONDON: Fresh from signing a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2022, Brazilian striker Caio has vowed to return Al-Wasl to the top of UAE football.