Leko: We Aim to Win All Our Matches and Compete to Clinch All Titles
Ivan Leko, Head Coach of Al Ain Football Team, opened the pre-match press conference of his team match against Al Dhafra by stating that the team’s preparations for the next game went as usual and as planned. “We assessed our performance during the past match and analyzed the opponent’s performance to identify their strengths and weaknesses.”
Noteworthy, the match of the Arabian Gulf Cup is scheduled to be held at Hamdan Bin Zayed Stadium at Al Dhafra Club on Saturday 16 November 2019 at 06:00 p.m.
Leko pointed out that the team will be missing the international players in the upcoming match. He also added: “I believe that the match against Al Dhafra is a good opportunity for the non-international players to show their quality skills on the pitch. I look forward to seeing a stunning performance from all the players in this match, which will boost up the levels of competition among the players and reflect positively on the team’s performance as a whole.”
On the possibility of seeing the players recovered from their injuries, primarily Rayan Yaslam and Mohammed Jamal, he said: “It is difficult to say that they are at the top of their level of fitness. Mohammed Jamal has not played any match for ten months, and five months passed since Rayan suffered from an injury in his knee and missed the team’s training sessions during the past period. Their current status requires us to give them their time to train more. They need at least three to four weeks to be fully fit and ready to join the squad.”
He went on to say: “I am not of that kind of coach who offers the players the chance. It is quite the reverse; the player should push himself to the limit to find a place in the starting lineup of the team. Those who are the best in training sessions and official matches deserve to be in the first eleven. I want to be honest with all the players, and it is the best player whose name will be added to the team’s list.”
“I do respect all of our team’s competitors, but I only focus on my team’s performance. However, our opponent is a strong team, and their style of playing is different from other teams. They also have a top-quality head coach,” Leko responded to a question on his assessment of Al Dhafra’s performance.
He concluded: “Our goal is to win each and every match this season and be on top of standing tables of all championships, especially the Arabian Gulf Cup. Winning Saturday’s match would trigger the team’s motivation to go on the victories track in the coming matches.”
