The UAE’s leading clubs will put their squad depth to the test as they start their Arabian Gulf Cup campaign without their leading Emirati players, as well as Olympic team members who are away on national team duty.
Al Ain could be missing as many as 12 of their top players for their clash at Al Jaziraon Friday, with eight of their players part of Mahdi Ali’s UAE team and three with the Olympic squad. Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike will also be away on international duty.
That will not give Jazira any major advantage, though, as coach Abel Braga will be missing nine senior national and Olympic team players of his own.
Al Shabab, who take on Dibba in the opening match of the competition on Thursday night, will be without eight players, while Al Nasr and Baniyas, who play at Al Maktoum Stadium, could have about half a dozen reserves on their start list.
The absences, however, have failed to dent the enthusiasm of the coaches.
“We are missing a big number of players, but I have confidence in the ability of the players who will make the list to provide the desired levels,” said Caio Junior, the Shabab coach.
“It’s a long season ahead and we will need all our players to be ready to play at any time. This match gives us the opportunity to see the real level of our young players and to see how they have progressed.
“Of course, this tournament is one of the priorities for us. Last season, we came close to winning the title but lost in the semis. This year, we hope to go even further.”
Luis Garcia, the Baniyas coach, has similar designs on the tournament and said: “We gave a good collective performance against Al Shaab” in their opening league match “and now I am hoping we can get a similar result against Al Nasr on our home ground.
“We will be missing players like Amer Abdulrahman, Haboush Saleh and Saad Suroor (on military service), but Baniyas have lots of players who possess a high degree of skill and they can be called up at any time to fill any shortages suffered by the team.
“I have a lot of faith in these players, and I am confident they will live up to their responsibility and get the desired result in this game.”
