Olariou says it is advantage Al Shabab
‘PHYSICAL HAWKS ARE A VERY GOOD FOOTBALL SIDE’
Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu says Al Shabab have everything going for them ahead of an away trip to their Al Ghusais rivals in the semi-final of the Arabian Gulf Cup today from 7.45pm.
The Red Knights may be favourites and record two-time winners, having lifted this trophy in 2012 and 2014, but Olaroiu said it would take an extra effort to beat Al Shabab away from home in this one-leg fixture, given the fact many of his players were involved in the UAE’s 2-1 friendly win over Iceland at Al Nasr on Saturday.
“Even during this period of [Arabian Gulf League] rest, most of my players were with the national team,” said Olariou. “I would like to thank the national team for not using my players for the full duration against Iceland. But we have not had the full squad back for long and now we need to work on everything for this game.
“This is a match against a very good team who play good football. They are strong physically and I think everything is going for them. We expect a difficult game,” said Olaroiu, whose side are currently second in the AGL and qualified second in their cup group to get this far.
“We need to find the energy and motivation to get through,” he added. “It will not be easy, but I hope we will be able to do this.”
Al Shabab coach Caio Junior said that despite the fact his side lost 2-1 at home to Al Ahli in their most recent league meeting in November, their cup form, finishing top of Group B with wins over Al Jazira and Al Ain, should give them confidence.
Need to believe
“This competition is different to the league,” said Caio, whose Hawks side are currently sixth in the AGL.
“We deserve to be in this semi-final, because our games in this tournament have been very good so far. We need to believe and our fans need to believe.
“I believe in this competition and I told my players from the beginning that I believe we can be champions. Al Ahli will play with a full team, they want to go to the final just as much as we do. We respect our opponent but I think it will be a very balanced game.”
In today’s other semi-final top of Group A, Al Wasl will host second in Group B Al Wahda from 5.10pm.
Al Wasl coach Gabriel Calderon, whose side are currently fourth in the AGL, pointed to their recent 1-0 league win at home to Al Wahda in December, to prove it would be a tight contest. “I wait for a strong match,” said Calderon. “Because one action gave us the win in our last game together. But this will be tough because both sides want to reach the final.
“In the league you can continue regardless of the result but after this match there may not be another game. There is no place for mistakes in knockout football, so we will have to be at our best.”
Al Wahda coach Javier Aguirre bemoaned the loss of four players featuring in the UAE’s ongoing AFC Under-23 Championship in Qatar and pointed out that Al Wasl had just one player on Olympic duty.
“Other than their one Olympic player their team is all set,” said Aguirre. But despite that he said the sides were equal. “The team that commits the less errors over 90 minutes will emerge victorious,” he added.