The sincere feeling of affiliation are rooted within the hearts of all people who lived on the soil of the United Arab Emirates
Leonardo Jardim: We were keen to analyze the performance of the competing team and our chances are still present in the race of competition
We came to Uzbekistan with an aim to return with the match’s three points with all due respect for the competing team
Leonardo Jardim, the Portuguese manager of Al Ain, started his speech at the introductory press conference for the match that will bring his team together with the Uzbek team Pakhtakor FC with words of congratulation to the people and government of the United Arab Emirates on the occasion of the 53rd national day, emphasizing that:“The sincere feeling of affiliation, love, appreciation, and pride are rooted within the hearts of all people who were lucky enough to be granted the opportunity to live on the soil of the United Arab Emirates, this precious and dear country that has always been representing the principle of justice, cementing security and safety, as well as moving forward with confidence into development, progress and prosperity at all fields of specialty, I also wish the people and government of the United Arab Emirates to reach more success and accomplishment at all field of specialty.”
Commenting on a question over his opinion about the level of football within the Uzbekistan, he said:“The truth is that I have already analyzed some matches for the Uzbek team Pakhtakor FC on the local and continental levels, and to be honest with you it is the first time for me to visit Uzbekistan. Over my knowledge of football within Uzbekistan, I confirm to you that my knowledge is not enough to cover all details here, but I was the head coach for one of the players at the Uzbek national football team, who is Aziz Ganiev, within Shabab Al Ahli FC, and he used to tell me all the time about his homeland Uzbekistan and the Uzbek football.”
Over the chances of his team to qualify to the next round of competition, he said: “I think that the chances of my team are still present and we came here with an aim to return with the match’s three points with all due respect to the Uzbek team Pakhtakor FC, so we have to deal with every match aside from the other, and if we managed to claim eight or nine points they will be enough to qualify to the round of sixteen.”
Over the decline in the team’s performance on the defensive side of football, he said: “I spoke before over this matter and we are working to improve our team’s collective performance, because the responsibility of receiving goals in our net is not limited to the goalkeeper and the defensive line of players alone, but it is the responsibility of all people within the team’s ecosystem, because every players on the team’s lineup has a certain responsibility assigned to him on the striking and defensive lines, starting from the goalkeeper reaching to the strikers, and, as I have already mentioned to you, our work is practically to improve the performance of the team’s ecosystem.”
