ABU DHABI // Henk ten Cate has promised Al Jazira are ready to give it their “best shot” in the Asian Champions League (ACL).
Jazira have one hand on the Arabian Gulf League trophy as they sit eight points clear at the top of the domestic league with four games left, allowing Ten Cate the chance to focus fully on the ACL this week.
The Dutchman insisted he would draw on his best available players to get his side’s challenge in the continental championship on track.
Ten Cate’s side have lost all three games so far but they still can qualify for the knockout stages as there are nine points still to play for in a group headed by Iranian side Esteghlal Khouzestan (seven points), Lekhwiya of Qatar (5) and Saudi Arabia’s Al Fateh (4), whom Jazira meet on Monday night at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
“It’s a very important match for us for the simple fact that I want to win,” Ten Cate said.
“Due to circumstances to focus on the domestic league, our participation in the ACL so far was not what we really wanted it to be.
“I think we can now take our chances to play a full-strength side against Fateh.”
Ten Cate could not previously play his best team in the ACL because every time they had a match, a domestic clash against big teams such as Al Ain, Al Ahli and Al Wahda was always round the corner.
“We don’t have a big roster of players and that means I had to make choices,” Ten Cate said.
“We had a good chance of winning the local league after seven years and that’s what I decided to go for.”
Ten Cate acknowledged Jazira did not have a capacity to challenge for two titles this season.
“Hopefully next year, when we have a bigger squad of players,” he said. “This was my decision. Not the club nor the players.
“But now, we are close to winning the AGL, I can take the chance to go all out and win the last three games in the ACL.
“If we can win this game tomorrow, then we can focus on the remaining two for a passage to the next round.”
When asked if Jazira had a realistic chance of going beyond the group stage, Ten Cate said: “I did it before with Panathinaikos. We won the last three games and won the group, and why not with Jazira?
“For me, my main target this season was to win the league which we haven’t won for seven years. We are very close to it. Now I can take a risk, but before, we couldn’t take that risk.”
Fathi Al Jabal, Fateh’s Moroccan manager, said they were facing a difficult opponent and a difficult game.
“Every team have their own objectives in this competition and domestic league,” he said.
“We are in a critical position in the domestic league but we’ll try to balance between both.
“Fortunately, we have players who can perform in both the ACL and the domestic league. Jazira will not be an easy team now that their coach is prepared to field the best side.”
Meanwhile, Al Wahda travel to Riyadh for a meeting with Al Hilal at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium.
Wahda are on one point in Group D and will need to return with a win to keep their hopes alive in a group that also includes Al Rayyan of Qatar and Persepolis of Iran.
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