Al Nasr 0 Al Jazira 0
Man of the match Brett Holman
DUBAI // Walter Zenga emerged from the tunnel at the Al Maktoum Stadium and, for the first time since his introduction as Al Nasr coach more than three years ago, took a seat in the dugout to the right.
The Italian, back to greet old acquaintances in his new guise as Al Jazira manager, was quickly on his feet again, though, when a section of fans called out and caught his attention.
Armed with little more than a wide grin, Zenga responded to the well-wishers with a few waves and the occasional thumbs up. The hero’s welcome was extended moments later, too, with a collection of Nasr players approaching the visitors’ bench before kick-off to exchange pleasantries and warm embraces.
“Of course, I’m feeling strange,” said Zenga after the 0-0 draw between the two sides, a match his Jazira edged slightly in terms of opportunities created.
“Most of the players, everybody here, we had two-and-a-half fantastic years, and when I say ‘we’ it’s true – it was everybody.
“If you put together the past two seasons, when we played 22 league games in one and 24 in the other, Nasr came in third position in the league standings overall. We scored 100 goals and brought this club into the Asian Champions League for the first time.
“So it’s impossible to feel nothing and it’s the same for the players. But this is the life of a footballer, the life of sport. The important thing is that all the time we respect each other and after the final result there is a smile, a hug and a thanks for what we did together.”
There was certainly that. Zenga’s stock remains high around these parts, despite a departure last summer prompted by a disappointing sixth-place finish, although the successive top-three placings that preceded it are valued much more by Nasr. That could be seen after his post-match press conference, as Zenga then spent a considerable amount of time reminiscing with his former employers.
Yet, if his reputation was temporarily tainted towards the end of his Nasr career, it has been carefully restored since last October.
Replacing Luis Milla as manager at Jazira, Zenga has guided the Abu Dhabi club to third in the Arabian Gulf League, into next month’s League Cup final and to the summit of their Asian Champions League group.
Last night’s stalemate may have meant they could lose ground on second-placed Al Shabab, but it stretched Jazira’s record under Zenga to four defeats in 25 matches across all competitions.
No wonder he appeared unusually relaxed. Perhaps intentionally, this was Zenga on his best behaviour.
Even when Felipe Caicedo, the Jazira forward, was dismissed in injury time for an aggressive reaction to an opponent’s foul, Zenga merely brushed it off.
“I was thinking about rotating my striker for the next match,” he said with a smile. “So he has made my decision for me.”
While Zenga clearly retains a strong affinity with Nasr, it was obvious that he is relishing his new role in the capital.
“Now I’m the coach of a big club like Al Jazira and I’d like to stay there as long as I can,” he said. “This is my target and this is now my new life. But nobody can remove from my memory what we did at this club, what we built. Now and still, for the rest of my life.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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