Dalic set for football’s big prize … and he’d like to thank Al Ain
▶ John McAuley profiles Zlatko Dalic, who guided his club back to the top of UAE football and may take his country to glory
His team is 90 minutes away from holding up world sport’s most coveted prize after a surprise World Cup tournament that caught the imagination of the globe’s football lovers.
But Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic told The National he owes it all to Al Ain.
“I’m proud of my time there and that the people of the Emirates and Saudi Arabia give huge support to me,” Dalic says.
“I really, really appreciate it a lot.”
He says Al Ain was the club that gave him the opportunity to make his name and the platform to take him to the cusp of securing football’s greatest prize.
The Bosnian-born manager was at Abu Dhabi’s Garden City for three years, during which time he restored the team to the summit of UAE football and to within a penalty kick of winning the Asian Champions League in 2016.
That year Dalic led the Al Ain team who lost by a heart-breaking aggregate of 3-2 to South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
Then about 18 months ago the coach called time on his stint at Al Ain and left with an Arabian Gulf League title, a President’s Cup crown and an enduring connection to the UAE.
Ten months later, Dalic was appointed manager of Croatia where he has prepared his troops for foorball’s ultimate battle today in Russia.
But he has always relished his time in the Emirates and has been grateful for the start it gave him.
“I will stay Ainawi for ever,” Dalic says, referring to the supporters of Al Ain football club.
“I will stay Ainawi for ever,” said Zlatko Dalic, a reference to fans of Al Ain Football Club, and it did not feel fake or forced.
The Croat had given three years to the UAE club in which he helped to lift them back to the summit of UAE football and within a penalty kick of winning the Asian Champions League.
A single goal across two legs deprived the country’s most decorated club of the continent’s premier club prize.
Results since the 2016 final have been poor, with players’ minds scrambled by the 3-2 aggregate defeat to South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
Al Ain deteriorated and Dalic was off with one Arabian Gulf League title, one President’s Cup crown and an enduring connection to the UAE.
“I have done my best,” he said. “I don’t want to take anything from anybody. I need rest.”
Ten months later, fully recovered, Dalic was appointed manager of Croatia. Eighteen months after leaving Al Ain he is 90 minutes from world football’s ultimate prize.
Even with Croatia capturing hearts and imagination, the question in Russia has remained: who is Zlatko Dalic?
Al Ain supporters were asking that in January 2014. He arrived after stints in Saudi Arabia with Al Faisaly and Al Hilal, but his record was modest.
A former defensive midfielder who played for a host of clubs in the former Yugoslavia, Bosnian-born Dalic never represented his country.
But coaching had always appealed to him. From the age of 25 and still playing, he would detail training sessions in a notebook. From 2006, he served as assistant coach to Croatia’s under-21s.
Eventually, Dalic moved to the Gulf, because European teams “look for brand names” and opted instead for “big names, big money, big mistakes”.
“In my life I have always taken the harder path, had to fight for everything myself,” he said this week. “I started at the bottom of the ladder. Nothing was given to me on a plate.”
Initially, he was brought to Al Ain as “technical supervisor”. Spaniard Quique Sanchez Flores was the club’s manager, but Dalic appeared at a low-key press conference alongside a board member and fielded questions rather cryptically.
Al Ain were struggling at the time and Sanchez Flores was feeling the strain, but Dalic said: “I didn’t come here to put pressure on anybody. I came here to do my job and help Al Ain club.”
Within a few days, Sanchez Flores was gone, and Dalic was named his successor.
Success on the pitch followed. The 2014 President’s Cup, secured courtesy of a 1-0 victory in the final against Al Ahli, the reigning UAE champions. The next season, Al Ain won the Arabian Gulf League.
Then came the Champions League assault and the subsequent anguish, and soon after, Dalic’s departure. Just before Dalic left, one disgruntled Al Ain supporter printed a mock airline ticket, one way, emblazoned with “Zlatko Out”.
But he is generally fondly remembered in the Garden City by players, staff and fans.
Even in the capricious environs of Emirati football, Dalic did not delight in drama, rarely seeking conflict or controversy. And that approach worked. Not long after the 2016 President’s Cup final, he signed a one-year extension to his contract.
A constant refrain, no matter the situation or the stakes, was that Dalic believed in his team. In 2016, a day before the Champions League final first leg and Al Ain’s first Asian final in 11 years, he cut a relaxed figure in the pre-match briefing.
Typically, Dalic was also a calming presence on the touchline, which led some to believe that he lacked tactical acumen. But that masked an understanding of what was required to get the best from his squad.
At Al Ain, Dalic chose Ismail Ahmed and Ibrahim Diaky, senior professionals, as close confidants and conduits between him and their teammates.
Dalic is an inclusive manager, leaning on staff where necessary. It is something that has carried him through to Croatia and to within one match of the World Cup.
He uses the hurt of the Champions League final defeat as motivation even now – “it is always on my mind” – and in hindsight would have left Al Ain straight after it instead of staying on for another two months.
When he did depart, Dalic spent his final few weeks in the UAE at low-key engagements: dinner in the desert with Emiratis who had supported him during his time at Al Ain and gatherings with supporters to whom he had grown close. He wanted to show his gratitude.
Two days before Croatia’s quarter-final against Russia, he gave more than an hour of his time to The National, chatting football and sharing experiences of travelling around Russia.
On the journey to Croatia’s first global final, his social media accounts have often paid tribute to the support from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
“I’m proud of my time there and that the people of the Emirates and Saudi Arabia give huge support to me,” Dalic said.
“I really, really appreciate it a lot.”
He says Al Ain was the club that gave him the opportunity to make his name and the platform to take him to the cusp of securing football’s greatest prize.
“I learnt at Al Ain where every week I was under pressure, from the fans, from the club, from everyone,” Dalic said in October.
“I learnt everything the last three years at Al Ain. Al Ain helped me get to this point.”