Thanking loyal fans, Zlatko accredits victory over Al Wasl to his players’ strong personality
Speaking to the media after his squad’s 2-1 win over Al Wasl, Al Ain’s Croatian coach praised his players who managed to regain their balance after they were lagging behind and make a comeback to win; “It was not easy especially we conceived a very early goal; but as I told you earlier, my players have a strong personality that enables them to tip the balance in their favor as it was evidenced in our last two matches,” he claimed.
He also commended his players for their great skills, collective playstyle, determination and fighting spirit which mitigated the threat imposed by Al Wasl’s skillful and fast players.
He was glad that his striker Douglas Dyanfres scored in a challenging match; “Douglas was in need of it to rid himself of the pressures he has been through after the AFC tournament,” he said.
“I’d like also to thank Al Ain fans for cheering the players though frankly speaking I expected much larger number to attend our match against Al Wasl. Hopefully, it will be greater next matches,” he continued.
Asked why his players left the midfield open, Zlatko replied: “At the beginning, we relied on two wingers; Lee Myung and Ahmad Berman; but after we conceived an early goal, we moved to the offense in order to pull ourselves back into the game. After we managed to break the tie and score the go-ahead goal, I sent in Amer Abdurrahman to regain balance in our lines though he hasn’t yet recovered from his injury; that’s why he couldn’t play the entire match.”
He also explained why his men appeared imbalanced at the beginning and conceived a goal as a result.
“Don’t forget that we haven’t yet recovered from the pressing circumstances following our finals at the AFC Champions League two weeks ago; “However, Al Ain has the championship culture and the ability to address difficult circumstance; we proved that when we defeated Al Dhafra last round and Al Wasl today. I think an early and unexpected goal provides the scoring team with an advantage, but Al Ain proved to be self-composed against the best team in the current competition.” He concluded.
