Al Ahli’s impressive cup competitions have saved Cosmin Olaroiu’s job

Al Ahli may have had a domestic campaign to forget, but in the Asian Champions League, they could not have timed their rounding into form any better.

Wednesday night's 3-3 draw at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium against UAE champions and rivals Al Ain put them in the last eight of Asia's top competition for the first time.

Having disposed of his old club, Cosmin Olaroiu must wish that the two-legged quarter-final tie was next week rather than at the start of next season – August 25-26 and September 15-16, to be precise.

Cup competitions have saved the Romanian’s job.

– Ahmed Khalil turns focus to President’s Cup after inspiring Al Ahli’s Champions League progress

Ahli’s fortunes have turned around dramatically in recent months, thanks to progress in the Champions League continentally and the President’s Cup domestically. On Saturday, the club face Al Dhafra in the President’s Cup semi-finals, meaning a season that threatened to implode in the Arabian Gulf League could yet end on a triumphant note at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on June 3.

Still, it is the chance of emulating Al Ain as the only Emirati club to win the Champions League that will dominate Al Ahli minds during the next few months.

The club and their fans find themselves in unchartered waters. Ahli’s record in the Champions League has been nothing short of shocking. Of their four participations, the club have never progressed beyond the group stage, finishing third in their group last year and bottom on the other three occasions (2005, 2009, 2010).

The curse has been broken, and in August the club can look forward to facing one of Qatar’s Lekhwiya, Iran’s Naft Tehran or Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, the team’s excellent second-half performance will have the fans dreaming that they can go all the way; and the players, at last, seem to have the belief that they belong at this stage, even against the traditionally tough Saudi opposition.

Habib Fardan and Majed Hassan controlled the midfield against Omar Abdulrahman and company, bittersweet news for Mahdi Ali as he prepares for the UAE’s first 2018 World Cup qualifier against East Timor in just more than two weeks.

Record signing Everton Ribeiro played one of his best 45 minutes in an Ahli shirt since joining from Cruzeiro in Brazil, and two-goal Ahmed Khalil, criticised for inconsistent performances during the last few years, has been a man transformed since January’s Asian Cup in Australia.

Having long been in Grafite’s shadow and behind the likes of Luis Jimenez in the starting line-up, he is now becoming indispensable for Olaroiu.

Olaroiu and the club management will have some serious questions to ponder during the summer.

They need to avoid another poor season in the Arabian Gulf League – having finished seventh, 22 points behind Al Ain.

The squad, on paper, looks strong, and if off-field issues are ironed out, they will be challenging at the top again next season.

akhaled@thenational.ae

Al Ahli’s impressive cup competitions have saved Cosmin Olaroiu’s job

Al Ahli may have had a domestic campaign to forget, but in the Asian Champions League, they could not have timed it any better as they are in the last eight of Asia’s top competition for the first time, writes Ali Khaled.