Zoran: We Played the Worst Halftime in Recent Matches
Zoran Mamic, Head Coach of Al Ain FC, stated that his team played the worst halftime in recent matches of the Arabian Gulf League underlining that Al Ain has definitely lost two points and not won a point against the home team compared to the two teams’ performance on the pitch.
“In the first half of the match, we did not play well and both teams did not show their genuine desire to move forward to the box,” said Zoran. He added: “However, the second half was completely different as performance improved and we scored a goal before wasting loads of chances to score in the opponent’s back net.”
He pointed out: “Shabab Al Ahli Dubai players managed to equalize when their teammate fell down and Al Ain players tried to convince them to send the ball out to help their mate and we surprisingly conceded a goal.” He stressed: “We have to concentrate in the coming stage and not to commit any mistake that gives the competitor the chance to score against us.”
Commenting on a question whether Shabab Al Ahli Dubai behavior of not sending the ball out could be listed under the category of unfair play, he said: “I do not think it was unfair play as much it was a mistake committed by my team players in favor of their opponents who were intentionally were wasting the actual time of playing by turning any break of 20 seconds into one full minute.”
“I heard that Shabab Al Ahli Dubai players were complaining that their opponent teams were deliberately wasting the time, but it was proved the other way around. I found that they were wasting the actual time by their unjustified falls. The referee should not allow any player to waste match time to boost the actual time of paying in all matches,” added he.
With regard to the issue that Al Ain players were lacking the fighting spirit and the desire to win the match in the first half, he stated: “It is hard to explain, but maybe because of exhaustion as a result of the intense training session and the matches we played within a short period of time.”
