Al Jazira coach Keizer wary of Al Dhafra challenge

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Al Jazira coach Marcel Keizer ruled out any absentees due to injury and as he is optimistic of having a full-strength squad at his disposal for their Arabians Gulf League (AGL) 15th round match against Al Dhafra on Friday.

Khalifa Al Hammadi will miss the game as he is serving a suspension, but Salim Rashid will join the squad with the new signing Brandley Kuwas and Mohamed Al Attas, who recovered fully from his muscle injury.

“Everyone is fit and ready for this tough game, except Khalifa Al Hammadi, who got a red card in the dying moments of the last game against Al Nasr,” said Keizer.

“We need everyone because it is going to be a difficult game. Al Dhafra have always been a strong opponents.

“But we know what to expect against them and we will be ready for the match. In the President’s Cup game, we missed a lot of chances, so we need to be more focused now and capitalize on any chance we may create to score and end the match with the three points in our kitty,” Keizer added.

“They are good team and they are bound to give us a good fight, so we need to show them the due respect and we have to be at our best,” he stressed.

Al Jazira are second in the standing with 30 points where as Al Dhafra have shown some resurgence and are at the 10th spot, 14 points adrift of their opponents.

“Kuwas has been training well since the beginning of the week, but we are still not sure about including him in the starting line-up against Al Dhafra or not.

“have known him very well since his days in the Netherlands and also from his spell at Al Nasr, he can play at both sides but he prefers to be on the right, and I am sure he will add a great value to the team during the remaining of this season,” apprised the coach.

“The players deserves all the praise for the maturity they showed recently, and specifically against Al Nasr.

“It’s easier to face your opponents with 10 players at the back waiting to counter attack you, but Al Jazira are keeping the ball and attacking and creating chances.

“At the same time they are playing with discipline at the back, and this was very obvious against Al Nasr, and all the credit goes to the players,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Al Dhafra coach Kwid informed that there is great improvement in terms of availability of the players as compared to their last game against Ajman.

Kwid added that his team still needs some time to return to their preparations and that is possible only after Al Jazira match.

“We are looking for a positive result that means nothing less than a victory as we are playing at the home turf,” said the Syrian.

“Al Jazira are one of the strongest teams in the AGL. They have world class players in their line-up and that makes their attack very dangerous.

“They have five players who are capable of scoring goals in any situation and their attack is more dangerous than their defence,” said Kwid.