Al Ahli midfielder Majed Hassan believes Cosmin Olaroiu’s six-month touchline ban will act as extra motivation for the club as they hunt down a first UAE league title for five years.
Olaroiu will be confined to the stands until May after being found to have violated the terms of his contract when he transferred from Al Ain to Al Ahli in the summer.
The Red Knights passed their first test without Olaroiu on the bench with flying colours, beating neighbours Shabab 2-0 in the Deira Derby on Friday night, and Hassan says the team have rekindled their spark, which had briefly deserted them over the past couple of weeks following draws against Sharjah and Al Jazira and defeat to Al Wasl.
“We returned to the way we are used to playing, fighting for every ball and that was the most important thing. Our fighting spirit was the secret behind our win against Shabab,” said the 21-year-old.
“Our management is capable of changing any pressure on us into something positive and it becomes a source of motivation for us.
“The coach (Olaroiu) spoke with us about everything before the match and during the game he wasn’t too far and I could hear him and see him. So it’s not a huge difference, but of course I prefer if he is down on the pitch with us.”
Al Ahli are four points ahead of Al Shabab who, for now, look the only team capable of catching Olaroiu’s side with defending champions Al Ain in sixth, eight points off the pace following a 1-1 draw at Sharjah.
Their impressive form has been mirrored in the stands with Ahli striker Grafite thrilled to see the Rashid Stadium full with over 12,000 fans attending Friday’s match, some donning t-shirts with Olaroiu’s face on them.
The Brazilian said: “It’s different because I remember two years ago when I had my first game here and there was no one in the stadium, barely 200. But now you feel the fans are on our side. They believe in us.
“When you go in the field when it’s a full house you have more confidence, more speed, more motivation to play.”
Shabab missed out on a chance to leapfrog Ahli and claim top spot. With the match following Ahli’s first league defeat to Wasl along with Olaroiu’s ban, there were concerns the Red Knights would be in a vulnerable state.
It’s a thought that Shabab coach Marcos Paqueta never entertained.
“No I didn’t expect Ahli to be vulnerable at all,” he said. “They have a good team, nice players and they only lost one game.”
Paqueta was not discouraged by their defeat and with Shabab holding on to second place, he says they have achieved their goal for this part of the season.
He added: “We faced some troubles in the first few weeks of the season and people thought we couldn’t keep up with the top teams in the league. But we’ve worked hard as a club and as an organisation, we’ve managed to improve. Our goal is to stay in the top four.”
