Zlatko: Al Ain players proved themselves against Al Shabab
Commenting on his squad’s 2-1 win over Al Shabab, Al Ain’s Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić ascribed their victory today to his men who showed their strong personality and to a change in their style during the last 20 minutes.
Asked if the absence of captain Omar made their mission difficult, Zlatko admitted that Omar is the best player not in the region only but in all over Asia; “Certainly, we missed his efforts; but his teammates completed the mission as required and won,” he said.
He did not agree that his men’s injuries were due to violence by their rivals; “These injuries are mainly caused by our own busy schedule in additions some players have to play with the National Team. We have to always diversify our training program in order to cope with the ongoing changes in the League schedule; sometimes, we play one match and stop for one month; then we play 2 matches and stop again for 3 weeks, and so on,” he explained.
Zlatko added that he was not a magician to invent miraculous solutions to those changes though he was sure that his team boasts some of the best players whom he trusts indefinitely. “As a result of today’s injuries, we had to change our plans; I made Bandar play right-back and changed Lee’s position to play center-back,” he added.
Zlatko regretted that three of his men picked up injuries today. “Ismail Ahmad and Fawzy Fayez,” he continued, “suffered muscle injuries; it’s not easy for Ismail to play a match each 3 or 4 days during 2 successive months after absence for 2 years. Amer had a powerful kick at his ankle. All 3 players will have x-ray tomorrow. In fact, I can’t tell when they will be able to join again. Hopefully, they will recover soon to take part in our future challenges.”
He concluded by saying: “I gave my players a 2-day break after which we’ll be training in preparation to playing Baniyas in AGL Round 6. The team is planned to have a 3-day training camp before they play the first leg of the AFC finals in South Korea.”
