Marino Pusic, the Al Jazira coach, said his side are not intimidated by the formidable record of Al Ain, their opponents in the UAE President’s Cup final.
Friday night’s fixture at Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium – Jazira’s home ground – is the finale to the domestic season.
Al Ain are hoping to cap a historically successful season by completing a league and cup double.
The club who have won more trophies than any other in UAE football claimed their 15th league title in record-breaking fashion.
They became the first side in the professional era to go through a league campaign undefeated, completing what is known in Gulf football as a “golden season”.
Their dominance over the competition culminated in back-to-back 5-0 wins, then a crushing 4-0 win against Dibba on the final day.
Despite their unrelenting excellence, the side standing between them and another trophy believe they can be beaten.
“Every machine gets errors from time to time,” Pusic said. “Even the most sophisticated ones. We have come here to compete with our opponent.
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President Sheikh Mohamed and Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, with staff and players from Adnoc Pro League title winners Al Ain. All photos: UAE Presidential Court -
Sheikh Mohamed congratulates players for their success this season -
The President has encouraged the players to continue striving for excellence at local and international level -
Sheikh Mohamed, Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, Ruler's Representative in Al Ain Region, and Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, with the league trophy -
Sheikh Mohamed shakes hands with Al Ain's players -
Sheikh Mohamed with Sheikh Hazza at the event
“We have had a good season [Jazira finished fourth in the UAE Pro League]. By winning this cup, we can make it a great season.
“We are facing an opponent who has a big history, who has won a lot of trophies.
“All these statistics in the past, they are interesting, but they are not playing any role today. They are not any factor, and that is beautiful about football.”
Jazira will have one small advantage. Friday night’s game is being played at their home ground in Abu Dhabi, although the split of supporters will be 50-50.
Pusic thinks the stature of the fixture, as well as the likelihood of packed stands, can help inspire his players.
“Playing in a final is an amazing achievement in general, but you come to the finals to win,” Pusic said.
“We are going to compete for that. Once you are in a final you have a 50 per cent chance to win the trophy. That is a great feeling. The chance is there for us to win the cup.
“The quality of your decision-making on the pitch will be decisive at that moment.
“In finals there are moments and one moment can be decisive. Tactically, physically or individually, you cannot predict which moment it will be.
“You need to be switched on for 97 minutes to be on the right side of the game.”
Vladimir Ivic, the coach who has overseen a remarkable turnaround from a club in crisis to an invincible league campaign, has demanded high standards from his Al Ain players, even after the Pro League title was clinched.
“From the moment we won the championship against Sharjah away, we did not relax,” Ivic said.
“We had a huge goal in the last two games, and we achieved this goal. Those things helped us remain focused, helped our spirit and mentality for this final.
“It could be totally different now, if we had played the last two games relaxed and without motivation.
“We had a huge target in the last two games in the championship. We gave our maximum, played two good games, and from the moment we finished the last game, we started to prepare for this game.”
If Al Ain do win the final, it would continue a quirky trend in UAE football. In each of the previous two seasons, the champions completed a domestic double, too – Al Wasl two seasons ago, then Shabab Al Ahli last year.
“This trophy means a lot to us and we are here to fight for it,” Ivic said.
“We are here to give everything we need to to win the game and take this trophy back with us to Al Ain.
“We know it's not going to be easy. We know we are facing a very good team. But the players are ready to give 100 per cent and a little bit more.”
