It may have just been a friendly but Al Wahda coach Javier Aguirre can draw on plenty of positives in their 3-1 victory over Al Nahda on Friday night.
The Omani outfit were the visitors to the Al Nahyan Stadium and based on the Clarets’ latest performance, they look set to be a strong force for silverware when the new season gets under way next month.
With their Arabian Gulf League (AGL) opener against newly-promoted side Hatta less than four weeks aways on September 16, Aguirre named his strongest eleven in the capital.
That meant a debut for Hungary captain Balazs Dzsudzsak, who completed his move earlier this month, forming a formidable four-man attack with Sebastian Tagliabue, Jorge Valdivia and captain Ismail Matar in 4-2-3-1.
Dzsudzsak sent out a message that he could be the No1 free-kick taker, having seen two efforts go wide in the first 10 minutes.
Although, the former Bursaspor midfielder was still recovering from a stellar Euro 2016 campaign, he remained a threat on the wing and showed his versatility by cutting inside.
Aguirre’s front quartet caused the visitors problems, linking play and it was a familiar name in Tagliabue finding his scoring touch to give the Arabian Gulf Cup winners the lead after 15 minutes.
The Argentine striker’s low effort found the back of the net, and last term’s AGL foreign player of the year and top-scorer with 25 league goals was unlucky to add to that tally with his shot hitting the post minutes later.
He remained a threat with Valdivia showing glimpses of his potential with his vision for creating chances, while veteran Matar was not afraid to go forward.
While Aguirre will be impressed with his attacking force, defender Rim Chang-woo showed he can be dangerous with set pieces with his header hitting the frame. The Korean orchestrated the back-line with partner Mansour Abdullah, while right-back Mohamed Al Menhali also showed a lot of promise.
Despite being encouraging in the first half, the back four’s concentration lapsed, allowing Chichi through as he slotted in the equaliser.
Aguirre made a raft of changes in the second half, giving his youths a chance to impress with Dzsudzsak, Valdivia, Tagliabue and Matar among those to make way.
Mohammed Rashid and Sultan Saif led the attack and along with debutant Tariq Ahmed – a summer arrival from Dibba – continued to cause Nahda problems.
Although their defence was untested with few opportunities from the visitors, Rashid sent a reminder why he will valuable with a superb 25-yard goal, his second in pre-season. Ahmed – always dangerous on the wing – capped his debut with a goal in the 82nd minute.
