Sharjah look to extend unbeaten run as Shabab Al Ahli aim to bounce back

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Leaders Sharjah will look to extend their unbeaten streak against Fujairah in their sixth round match of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Thursday.

Defending champions Sharjah are in stellar form and have been unbeaten after five rounds in the 14-team league. Sharjah coach Abdulaziz Al Anberi vowed to give their hundred percent against Fujairah, who are nine spots behind them in the table.

“Our preparation for the game is good and we will not take anything lightly. I expect a tough match,” said Anberi.

“We treat all the teams with the same respect irrespective of their standings in the table. We care about the full three points in each game whatever the circumstances are,” he added.

“We are responsible for our fans and their sentiments and wish to provide satisfactory performance and achieve a positive result in all the matches,” he concluded.

Sharajha are in stupendous form and have not lost a single game this season in the AGL. They started off meekly with two losses in the Arabian Gulf Cup but bounced back against Ajman in the third game and since then have not looked back.

Sharjah player Mohammed Khalfan said: “Our preparations for the game are strong and we know it is going to be a difficult game. We seek not to repeat the scenario of the Hatta match. There is no easy team and we forgot what happened in the Hatta match.”

High-flying Sharjah were held to a 2-2 draw against Hatta in the previous round that ended their six-game winning streak across all the tournaments.

Meanwhile, Shabab Al Ahli will look to bounce back against Ajman after facing a defeat against Al Nasr in the previous round match of the AGL.

They can leapfrog Al Ain to the second spot at the AGL standings provisionally with victory over Ajman at the Rashid Stadium on Thursday.

Shabab Al Ahli are at the third spot with tens points behind Al Ain, who are on the second with two more points. But Al Ain are not in action till Friday, that gives Shabab Al Ahli a chance to go second.

Shabab Al Ahli’s Argentine coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena said: “We are going into a difficult battle against a well-performing opponent and their coach knows very well what he wants from the team.

“Ajman, as I said earlier, are strong performers and we have to be highly focused against them. We have to enter the game with a strategy to win and run away with three points.

“I rely on statistics in my work and the statistics of the team are good through scoring. We scored 10 goals an average of two goals every game in the league so far. But only two goals have been scored against us so far but that does not mean we don’t have a room for improvement,” he informed.

Arruabarrena said: “I have a lot of confidence in my players Ahmed Khalil, Al Attas and Mohammed Juma and they have a lot to offer to the team in the future.

“My real philosophy in football is “collective play,” as it is a team game. I do not believe in individual performances and we have defenders and midfielders, who scored goals for us.

“Karatapia is hospitalised and the final decision will be taken with the medical advice, which will determine whether he will play or not tomorrow. Abdul Aziz Heikal also suffered a bruise and we are waiting for his medical report as well.”

Shabab Al Ahli’s Davide Mariani vowed to get back to the winning ways.

He said: “We are playing a very important game and we have to react strongly and get back to winning again.

“This is our style as players and we go into a match to win only, and we have a positive attitude. We always want to win and steal all three points on offer. This is going to be a difficult match and we expect a backlash from Ajman following their defeat in the last games,” said a wary Mariani.