Left with no choice but to win, Zlatko vows a fight to the last breath vs. Al Jazeera
It was not difficult to understand the tone of determination expressed by Al Ain’s Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić just a few hours before his squad takes the most serious challenge versus Al Jazeera that can bring Zlatko’s career with Al Ain to an end or extension.
“I’m not the sort of coach who easily gives up; I’ll fight for the interests of my team till the last moment,” he exclaimed.
Zlatko added that he might leave Al Ain tonight, but his passion will remain for Al Ain forever; “I always take pride in my players, team, club and coaching one of the best teams in Asia. I’m proud of every single moment I spent here,” he added.
Cooling down the issue, Zlatko pointed out that it was difficult for any team to maintain the same performance throughout the season; he took the example of Riyal Madrid which has lost the last two games; “More importantly for a coach is to make a strong comeback and adopt the best practices for the interest of his team,” he commented.
He in advance justifies a potential loss tonight by reiterating the challenges of missing 4 right and left wingers at once, the players’ exhaustion as a result of having to play a game each 4 days in addition to the challenge of missing some players in each game as a result of injuries or suspension penalty.
“We were deprived of Asprilla’s efforts in 5 games as well as the efforts of Omar Abdurrahman, Ismail Ahmad, Mohamed Abdurrahman and Amer Abdurrahman; however, the situation is still under control,” he complained.
He confessed that Al Ain situation is now worse than 2 weeks ago; “It’s our last postponed game versus Al Jazeera which tops the table; therefore, we have to play our best in order to gain 3 points and improve our position in the table,” he pointed out.
He called on Al Ain fanbase to support the team as usual; “They never stopped cheering the team in all games and under all circumstances,” he said.
Zlatko said that the absence of 4 wingers needs a ‘magic’ solution to address it though Khalid Abdurrahman fares well; “But after being away for 3 years, it’s difficult for Khalid to play a game each 3 or 4 days,” he made clear.
Zlatko said that he had to check if Al Ain’s 2 new recruits, Dawood Ali and Mohamed Salem Al Dhaheri, are ready to play today versus Al Jazeera; “Hopefully they can get along quickly with their teammates and provide the required solution inside the pitch,” he hoped.
He agreed with the reporters that his squad had paid costly for their defensive mistakes; “If you watch Pro Zone program, you’ll find out that Baniyas had scored an equalizer from just one attempt at our goal; Emirates scored 3 goals out of 4 shoots and Hatta score 2 goals out of 2 shoots against us.”
“In return,” he continued “We controlled the proceedings and created many shooting opportunities which we messed up. Though usual in football, these failures make the players lose self-confidence and focus. However, our main issue is exhaustion.”
Zlatko confirmed that as a coach he would do his best to carve out the best solutions to his defensive lines reiterating his confidence in his men; “We have the best defenders and my team is the best regardless of the results. We may lose many games, but that will never shake my confidence in all my players,” he concluded.
