Teamwork the key for leaders Al Ain
MISFIR’S DIBBA SHOWING SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT
Defending champions Al Ain extended their lead at the top of the Etisalat Pro- League to nine points as their nearest rivals, Al Jazira and Al Ahli, settled for a draw to drop two points each after league 15 games.
Al Ain seem to be on their way to defend the title they won last season thanks to the hard work of their technical staff, headed by Cosmin Olariu who succeeded in creating a group who believe in the philosophy that the team is the real star rather than star players.
The team has therefore won matches irrespective of the absence of some key players.
The biggest proof lay when they trounced Ajman 4- 0 despite missing the services of the league top scorer Asamoah Gyan, who is busy with national commitment in South Africa where he is leading Ghana’s attack in the African Nations Cup.
While Olariu deserves a big share of the praise for the consistent performance and positive results of his team that made them lead the standings with 38 points from 14 matches, another veteran coach who deserves praise is Dr Abdullah Misfir, the head coach of Dibba.
Spirit and discipline
The former national coach has brought about a transformation for his team - now at the bottom of the standings - who won six points in their last two matches to go level with Kalba. The progress shown by Dibba indicates that the team, playing in the big league with limited resources, will be a tough nut to crack in the coming matches if they continue to perform with the same spirit and discipline. Bani Yas was another big winner as they moved one place up to take third place with the same tally of points as Al Jazira whilst overtaking Al Ahli.
Al Nasr, meanwhile, scored an important psychological victory by beating their traditional rivals Al Wasl in the Zabeel Derby with a single goal and Al Shabab registered a big victory over Al Wahda to move forward.
Dubai continued their brilliant form to overcome Al Shaab and move to the seventh place while Al Shaab are in the drop zone, sharing the bottom with seven points together with Kalba and Dibba.