ABU DHABI // Zlatko Dalic used the occasion of his third trophy as Al Ain coach on to launch an impassioned defence of his record as the club's coach.
Dalic unburdened himself after Al Ain’s 4-2 victory over Al Nasr sealed the club’s third Arabian Gulf Super Cup in the professional era, and fifth overall, hitting back at the club’s fans who attacked him after the club’s exit from the Asian Champions League.
Al Ain were beaten on away goals by increasingly bitter rivals Al Ahli in the continental tournament’s round of 16, in May. That came days after Nasr knocked them out of the President’s Cup in the quarter-final.
Despite having pocketed the club's 12th Arabian Gulf League title by that stage, the period saw Dalic come under sustained pressure, with reports that he was on his way out and social media barbs aimed at him by some of the club's fans.
After months of keeping quiet, Dalic could hold back no more on Saturday evening, pointedly thanking those “Al Ain fans who understand football,” as he responded to an ostensibly innocuous question about his feelings on winning another trophy.
“Al Ain is a big club,” the Croatian coach began. “Al Ain every time needs a trophy. I will be honest now. After Champions League, when we draw against Ahli and were knocked out, there was too much attack on me, which was personal. I went back to my home and took rest. I didn’t want to give any comment.
“But, I will repeat now. In one year and half, I took three trophies. Nobody in history do like this. Nobody. No big name. Who took three trophies in Al Ain?
“I am here, one year and half, not five years. My problem is I am quiet. I want only to work. I don’t want fights or to speak lots. It is not my job to go to media. My job is in the field.”
Cosmin Olaroiu, Ahli’s coach, won three trophies – two league titles and a Super Cup – in his two seasons with Al Ain.
Criticism from Al Ain fans at their inability to win continental glory seemed to particularly irk Dalic.
Last season Al Ain finished top of their group, with the tournament’s best defensive record. They went out despite not losing a game in the tournament; the Ahli tie ended 3-3.
The season before, Dalic took the club to the semi-finals, the first time they reached that stage since 2005. It was time, he said, that the club’s fans remembered that Al Ain have not had it particularly good at Asian level in the past decade.
“What happened when we exited the Champions League? Everyone talked [about] me. [It felt like] the last 10 years before me, every year I think we played the Champions League final.
“I checked. In 12 years, three times we passed the group stages. Two times with me. Semi-final with me.”
Including 2002/03, when Al Ain won the first Asian Champions League, they have gone past the group stages six times, losing in the 2005 final. Dalic suggested he need not apologise for the club’s Asian successes the past two seasons.
“Why attack me? Why? I said ‘thank you’ to Al Ain fans who understand football and not those who are pushing the club against me, through Twitter. It’s very easy to sit on an armchair, by the TV, drink tea, and write on Twitter, ‘Go out, Zlatko.’ My friend, what do you want?”
Dalic did not seem particularly angry, as he delivered his soliloquy. It was, as he acknowledged, an emotional release after the emotional high of winning another trophy.
Several times he apologised for “taking the time” to speak out. He ended by promising it would be the last time he would speak so openly about his feelings.
“I need to open my heart,” he said. “I was quiet but I wanted to say what I have inside. I will try to do my best. I will continue with my job, but I will do my best till my last day.
“It is my last interview like this, but I felt it necessary to open my heart after game. I want to thank Al Ain fans who understand football and Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for supporting me.”
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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