Refusing to misuse the Club’s funds, Zlatko: I’m looking for high-standard foreign players
After Al Ain was deposed of the President’s Cup by Al Nasr last Thursday, their Croatian coach has shifted his attention to the Arabian Gulf League with an immediate game to play versus Hatta which was described by Zlatko as the AGL ‘surprising team’.
He admitted that their game today versus Hatta would not be easy with 3 suspended players: Ismail Ahmad, Amer Abdurrahman and Mohamed Abdurrahman in addition to 3 injured players: Saeed Al Menhali, Mohamed Fayez and Mohamed Ahmad. “However, I absolutely trust all my players to win tonight,” he said.
Opening the page of the AGL, Zlatko said: “We need to mobilize our efforts in order to achieve our objective of winning the AGL title.” He said.
“Like any football team in the world,” he continued, “It’s not easy for Al Ain to win all titles especially that we’re under the pressure of playing in many championships; take Omar Abdurrahman for example, he’s been playing uninterruptedly since August. At the end, the players are not machines,” he justified.
In response to what has been recently reported that Al Ain plans to dispense with the Brazilian striker Douglas Dyanfres, Zlatko confirmed that the Club is seeking to reinforce the offensive line with the best players to achieve good results that can delight the fans. “However, I won’t take the Club for a currency printer machine to acquire alternative players in the winter transfer window. Some specific standards must be met by any player who will join my team,” he replied.
He reiterated that he is not that sort of coaches who take advantage of the Club’s financial resources and take hasty decisions to acquire many players and then have them play in the reserve team as one can see in some clubs today.
“Football is no more a sports game, it’s become an industry that can attract tourists and promote international brands because it gets a great deal of passion and care by everyone; therefore, any club in this industry must seek to reach the highest degree of success without wasting a lot of money,” he explained his viewpoint.
Defending Dyanfres, Zlatko called on everyone to be realistic and remember that Dyanfres has so far scored 25 goals though he’s been through great pressure by the social media. “Until he’s replaced, Douglas will remain a player in my team and will receive my support like any other player. Hopefully, he and his teammates will be sufficiently supported by every member of the Club during the current circumstances,” he stressed.
“Who can guarantee that the new player will be a better substitute than Douglas?” he wondered. “Any player is likely to go through difficult circumstances, but he needs understanding and support from everyone to get out of those circumstances. During our game versus Al Nasr, I sent in 4 strikers, but luck was not on our side,” he continued.
Asked if the game versus Hatta will be their key to winning the AGL title, Zlatko replied: “In fact, each game can lead us to the title. Certainly winning over Hatta will place us at the top of the table and consequently will motivate us to keep it up.”
