Hammad: Al Ain requests AFC to reschedule the National team’s match
Mohammed Obeid ‘Hammad’, Board Member of Al Ain FC Company, General Supervisor of Al Ain first and backup teams, hailed everyone’s efforts to make the dream of advancing to the AFC Champions League final come true; “It’s a significant step toward the biggest dream, the title”, he said.
Looking forward, Hammad explained that immediately after El Jaish’s game, Al Ain Club Management requested the UAE Football Association and UAE Pro League to help Al Ain bring forward the National team’s next match versus Iraq in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers by contacting the Asian Football Confederation in this regard. “The current schedule piles a lot of pressures on Al Ain players; many of them will play in the National team versus Iraq; and shortly, they will fly on a long trip to Eastern Asia to play the first-leg game of the AFC Champions League final in South Korea. It will be tiring for them to adapt to various climates in a very short time, and we hope that AFC would consider this matter and give Al Ain team sufficient time between these two matches.” he explained.
Describing Al Ain players as the champions who overcame the last hurdle before the final one in the race for the Asian title, Hammad said: “Now, we have to focus how to win the first-leg game in Korea; it requires a lot of work by both the technical and administrative staff, in addition to the important role of the medical staff as some players, including Khaled Issa, picked up an injury and they have the play the AGL games next.”
“Now, we have to temporarily turn the page of AFC tournament,” he continued, “and start to prepare ourselves seriously for our important AGL game against Al Nasr.”
He did not exclude the possibility of holding a training camp prior to playing the AFC final; “A lot of efforts are required on our part if we need to prepare our players to stand on the podium,” he added.
He hailed Al Ain fans especially those who flew to Doha to support the team; “Their support is not surprising; thankfully, it was returned by today’s victory. We promise them more happy moments” he said.
He saw the game versus El Jaish difficult with many moments of tension, but all was normal and expected. “El Jaish took the offensive immediately after the kickoff, tried many tactics and managed to score, but Al Ain surprised them with a different tactice and didn’t seek a draw which would be enough to advance.
Instead, Al Ain attacked and created several chances from which two goals were scored. With this draw, Al Ain advanced for the third time to the Asian final, and this was not easy at all. However, the most important thing is to win the title and make the Emiratis’ dream come true by reproducing the big achievement of 2003.” He commented.
He reminded that today’s achievement was not without pains; “Our goalkeeper Khaled Issa and Mohammed Fayez were injured, besides Ismail Ahmed played though he was sick; he deserves our thanks and appreciation. This is quite common by Al Ain players who always exemplify sacrifice and loyalty. Hopefully, their efforts will be rewarded by the title,” he hoped.
Hammad pointed out the players along with the technical and administrative staffs highly appreciated and were motivated by the message of His Highness Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Club’s First Vice-President and First Vice-Chairman of Al Ain Honorary Board, to the team after defeating Lokomotiv and advancing to the semifinals, and in which His Highness confirmed his trust in the team’s ability to please and meet the expectations of UAE people. “We promise His Highness that we will fight to notch up from the South Korean champions a good result that will be in our credit when we play them the title on HBZ Stadium.”
“His Highness’ encouraging tweets are quite common and we are used to his support. We know that reaching the final is not a real achievement because the team did that before. The title is the big achievement we are working for”, he concluded.
