Several Reasons Made Me Give Al Ain’s Foreigners a Break.. Zoran: It would be better if Arabian Gulf Cup to be for Reserve Teams
Croatian Head Coach of the “Boss” Zoran Mamic emphasized that his team strived hard to perform well in their match against Al Nasr, but due to numerical shortage they were not able to show their real level. He stressed that the competitor team deserves to win the match and congratulated them for winning the three points.
On the reason for playing with the Reserve Team against AL Nasr, he said:” There are several reasons behind my decision, including offering the players the chance to gain the experience of participating in official matches in one of the competitions supervised by the Professional League Committee, especially some of them were unhappy because they do not participate in official competitions in the starting lineup. I hope they gain the desired advantages and to be smart enough to learn something for the future.”
Commenting on a question on why he gave the foreigners a break, he replied: “Indeed, my team already qualified for the quarterfinals. Secondly, I wanted to give a chance for the young players. Also, I was keen to give them a break in preparation for the coming matches where everybody is required to double their efforts, and not to forget that Caio and Shiotani have not reached the required level of readiness yet.”
“In fact, I do not really have any calculations for the quarterfinal match as I do not care much about which team we will encounter at that stage,” said he in response to a question on his calculations for the quarterfinal match.
He concluded by responding to a question on his opinion in the Arabian Gulf Cup where teams are playing without their foreigners by saying: “We did not play any match in this competition with full lines as matches are held during suspension days when UAE National Team has its own competitions and we will play the quarterfinal match with the absence of players who joined the national team. Personally, I wish I could have a justification for that, but as a head coach I do prefer that this competition to be held at the level of reserve teams. Anyway, I cannot change anything.”
