Praising the supporting fans, Zlatko commends his players’ audacity
Speaking to the media in a post-match press conference, Al Ain’s Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić congratulated his men on qualifying for the quarterfinals of the President’s Cup praising at the same time Al Ain fans who gathered in large numbers at the MBZ Stadium, provided unparalleled support for their squad and boosted their morale especially when they were overrun by a goal.
Zlatko pointed out that both teams have shown a highly-tactical playstyle with the ‘Boss’ controlling the pitch and showing a superb performance that was eventually paid off.
“We expected that out rivals would take advantage of our errors to hit the net, which made the match even more open. We have already suffered from some issues; Asprilla and Douglas were physically unfit, so I kept them on the bench. Lee-Myung also was struck by fever yesterday evening. Nevertheless, we made it to the quarterfinals and I am so happy for that,” he explained.
He did not agree that their way to the title was clear and passable after deposing the most likely candidate; “No, there are still other powerful candidates like Al Nasr, Al Wasl and Al Jazeera, especially that it is a knockout tournament; but we made great strides today,” he added.
In response to a question why his squad could not take advantage of their clear preponderance during the playing time, Zlatko said: “As I said earlier, our encounter against Al Ahli has its peculiarities and attracts a nation-wide attention. Today’s match was highly tactical, so our intention was to control the midfield and create scoring opportunities.”
He totally excluded that their victory today was partially made possible by absences in Al Ahli team; instead, he confirmed that he had instructed his men to stay focused and never take reckless reactions. “Football is a team game where you can’t rely on a player or two. Al Ahli is a powerful team irrespective of the absent players.”
Given their busy schedule during the next phase, Zlatko commended the efforts excreted by his men and their craving desire to achieve the best results. “During the past 8 months, we lost twice only; to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the home leg of AFC finals, and to Al Jazeera in the Gulf Cup of Nations finals in penalty shootout, but that competition was not a priority to us,” he commented.
“Al Ain’s ‘international’ players,” he continued, “missed the summer training camp; they had to join the national team; this significantly impacted our results. I am aware the national team is 1st priority. However, improving players’ performance is a joint process between the club and national team. We’ve been training for 40 days so far and were capable of achieving good results,” he concluded.
