Hector Cuper will be introduced as Al Wasl’s coach on Thursday, and he must have liked what he saw from the stand as the Dubai club defeated holders Ajman 3-0 in the League Cup on Wednesday.
Khalifa Abdullah, Mohammed Nasser and Abdullah Wahdani scored for Wasl, who kept alive their faint hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the competition.
Cuper, the 57-year-old Argentine, previously coached Mallorca, Valencia and Inter Milan and most recently was at the Turkish club Orduspor. Valencia were twice Uefa Champions League runners-up on Cuper’s watch, in 2000 and 2001.
He takes over from Laurent Banide, the Frenchman who was dismissed last month.
Ajman remain second in Group B on eight points, but they seem doomed to be passed by Al Ahli or Al Nasr, who are on seven and six points, respectively, and play on Thursday with another game in hand.
Elsewhere, Baniyas climbed over Al Jazira into second place in Group A with a 3-1 home victory. Luis Farina scored twice for the winners after Mohammed Jabar opened the scoring.
Ahmed Al Gilini pulled one back for Jazira in the 50th minute, just before Ricardo Oliveira, Jazira’s captain, was sent off for a second caution. Sultan Gargash had a chance to level the score, but his penalty was saved by Sultan Mussabah in the 68th minute. Baniyas and Sharjah are on 10 points, with Jazira on nine.
Earlier, Al Shabab all but ended Emirates’s hopes of the League Cup last four by defeating the promoted side 3-1.
German Herrera gave Emirates a lead in the 15th minute, but Edgar Bruno levelled for Shabab in the 21st minute and put the winners in front in the 67th. Nasser Masoud added the third 10 minutes later.
The victory was Shabab’s first in five league cup matches.
sports@thenational.ae
