Buoyant Keizer’s Al Jazira take on Kalba in longed-for season opener

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Al Jazira and Ittihad Kalba will kick off a delayed football season on Thursday when the two clubs clash in the first match of the Arabian Gulf Cup (AGC) to be played at the Ittihad Kalba Club Stadium in Kalba.

The season – making its much-awaited return after a long hiatus – was earlier scheduled to get under way on Sept.3 before the UAE FA decided at the last moment to postpone it by a month. The last season was cancelled midway due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a view to safeguarding the health of participating players and officials.

Despite his men being off the field for several months, Al Jazira coach Marcel Keizer remains optimistic ahead of their first match.

Keizer expressed his happiness and revealed that his players were excited about the return of football to the country while insisting his team would be taking the competition very seriously.

“We are happy and excited about the return of football in this country for the first time since the lockdown in March brought the last season to an abrupt end,” he said during a press conference.

“The players are ready and motivated and it’s all positive in the dressing room and on the training ground. We are starting this season with the same players with the exception of Mourad Batna and Marcos Kenno who left us earlier this summer,” he informed.

“The game against Kalba will be a good opportunity to test ourselves before the first league match against Al Nasr,” he added.

The match between Al Jazira and Al Nasr will played on Oct.17, one day after the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) season starts on Oct.16.

“We are visiting the Kalba stadium with the intention of giving off our best and to win so we can be in a better position for the second leg game.

“We will field the best possible playing XI, but we are going to give some chances to the substitutes of course,” he added.

In the wake of the coronavirus, FIFA has amended the substitution rule, allowing five instead of three substitutes in a match. This gives coaches a chance to test their bench strength.

The coach also expressed his happiness with the squad at his disposal ahead of the new season.

“The squad is very good at the moment, and I am happy with the group I am working with right now. There are very good Emirati players, and I trust them all to help the club achieve their targets this season.

“It’s difficult to win every single game in every competition we are playing this season, more so for us as we are starting the campaign with just two foreigners while some teams have five.

“On the other hand, I am having the best Emirati players in the country, so I am very sure we can aim high and fight for the top places this year across all competitions.

“I think the old system of the Cup was good, because we are having a knockout competition already, which is the President Cup, so keeping the Cup with the group system was the better scenario.

“I don’t have any issues with the current setup, and we will do our best to go as far as we can in this important competition,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Ittihad Kalba coach Jorge Da Silva said: “Our preparations for this season were perfect. We were excited about the start of the season about a month ago when the official start was announced, but we all know that this launch has been postponed due to the pandemic conditions,” said Da Silva.

“The beginning will not be easy, especially as we will start the season with two big matches, in the cup against Al Jazira and in the league against Shabab Al Ahli,” he added.

Da Silva played down talk of starting the match against Al Jazira as underdogs. “They are a big team and are always favourites to compete in all the championships. This does not scare us. On the contrary, it will motivate us to achieve a positive result. We have the desire and the confidence to play these matches,” he added.

Ittihad Kalba player Nasser Abdel Hadi said: “It was a difficult and long break. We haven’t played too many friendlies ahead of the new season.

“The motive is different this year and the team is integrated. The ambitions have risen, and the goal has changed from thinking about staying afloat to reach the top of the table. The goal will be achieved by everyone’s solidarity,” he added.

In other matches on the first day of the season, Ajman will meet Fujairah and Hatta will face Bani Yas.

Ajman coach Ayman Al Ramadi said: “The postponement to the start of the season was positive for all teams because it gave the opportunity to go through a large number of experiences in addition to the opportunity to recover from injuries.”