ABU DHABI // Al Jazira are a game away from making history in the Arabian Gulf League.
No team has won 22 games since the league turned professional in 2008, but Jazira stand on the cusp when they host Al Dhafra on the last day of the season at their Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on May 13.
Al Ahli hold the professional-era record, winning 21 games and racking up 66 points when they won the league last season.
“It’s up for grabs; go and get it,” Jazira manager Henk ten Cate said after they beat Al Nasr 1-0 and stretched their home record to 12 straight wins on Wednesday evening.
“Write this history when you have it within your reach. This will be an achievement, especially for the Emirati players. They live their lives here, and they will be always remembered for this achievement, to be in the history [books] of the AGL.”
The Dutchman said his team must still play with the same intensity in their final assignment as they have shown in ther previous 21 if they are to write their names in UAE folklore.
“We have the highest respect for Dhafra but we want to win this game,” he said. “It means we have to continue playing as a team and give everything in this game to achieve our final goal for the season.
“I hope we can manage to do this. Our ultimate aim is also to win 13 home games in a row. We scored the most number of goals and conceded the least this season. This tells a story.”
In fact, Al Ain hold the record for most number of goals scored – 74 – when they won the league in 2013. Jazira have netted 68.
While scoring seven goals to break Al Ain’s record might be beyond them, Jazira have the more realistic chance of matching the least goals concededin a season. If they can shut out Dhafra, they stand to share the record – 15 – with neighbours Al Wahda who achieved that feat when winning the title in 2010.
The Abu Dhabi side struggled to beat Al Nasr on Wednesday when they returned to the pitch for the first time since securing the league title at Hatta last week. A strike from substitute Ahmed Al Attas eight minutes from time secured the win for the champions.
“We made it difficult for ourselves, particularly in the first half, when we didn’t play as a team,” Ten Cate said. “I was really upset at half time. We played very well in the second half, though. We created more chances in this period and deserved to win the game. At the end, we are happy with the three points but not happy with the performance.”
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