DUBAI // Brett Holman says this week’s President’s Cup final will come down to whichever team wants it more, in what could be his final match for Al Nasr.
The Dubai club, three-time winners of the competition, booked their place in the showpiece on Saturday night, defeating Al Shabab on penalties after the match had finished 1-1. They face Al Ahli, last year’s beaten finalists, at Al Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.
Holman, 31, is hoping to play another key role in the final – his goal against Shabab at the weekend granted Nasr the lead – as he seeks to add the President’s Cup to the Arabian Gulf Cup he helped his side secure in February.
However, it may be the last piece of silverware Holman clinches in Nasr blue, given his two-year contract expires in June. Talks have yet to take place regarding an extension, alerting teams within the UAE and others in Qatar to his availability. Nasr, though, say they are focusing simply on Wednesday’s defining clash with Ahli.
For now, so too is Holman. Asked if his strike against Shabab was a fitting way to sign off at Al Maktoum Stadium, the attacking midfielder replied: “Who knows? If it was my last game here then it was, definitely. The future is a little bit cloudy, so there’s no point getting carried away now in the next three days. We’ll get the final over and done with, sit down and see where I’m at next year.”
Signed from Aston Villa in June 2013, Holman has since been one of Nasr’s most consistent performers, scoring eight goals in 50 Arabian Gulf League matches. Last season, he was instrumental in Nasr’s successful GCC Clubs Cup campaign, which ended the club’s 25-year wait for a trophy.
Nasr have not contested a President’s Cup final since 1997, but will have a difficult task against a resurgent Ahli, who last week defeated Al Ain to advance to the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League for the first time.
On Saturday, they emerged from their President’s Cup semi-final against Al Dhafra with a 2-0 victory. Ahli are attempting to lift the trophy for a record ninth time.
“You know it’s a final, you know it’s a one-off game and that anything can happen,” Holman said. “The only thing you can say is they’ve hit some cracking form, doing really well in the Asian Champions League and going through again [in the cup]. We’ve had some good games against them in the past. It’s one of those where the team who wants it more will take it home.”
Holman said merely making the final represented a great season for Nasr, who finished fifth in the domestic league, but given its place in UAE football, the President’s Cup would constitute his greatest success with Nasr.
“For me it’s a little bit different given I’m not from here, but if you see how the locals believe in it and how they really see this as the FA Cup of the UAE, then you know it’s a massive thing, it’s important,” he said. “A little bit of luck maybe, but if we’re on the right side of the score on June 3 then it’ll be fantastic.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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