Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic is confident his expert knowledge of Saudi Arabian football will give his side the edge when they meet AFC Champions League quarterfinal opponents Al Ittihad, following Wednesday’s draw in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The clubs have already met in this season’s competition, with the Boss finishing top of Group C despite losing the away match 2-1 and drawing 1-1 at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
The double-header also offers a repeat of the 2005 final, when the Saudi outfit came out 5-3 winners on aggregate.
Al Ain are playing in the last eight for the first time since 2006, with the nationality of the opposition a boost for Dalic as he previously enjoyed a successful three-year spell in the kingdom with Al Faisaly-Harmah and fellow ACL quarter-finalists Al Hilal.
Speaking to Sport360°, the Croatian hoped his experience would tip the balance in the Garden City’s favour for the matches on August 19 and 26.
“I know everything about Saudi Arabian football,” Dalic said. “I know big teams like Al Ittihad, and the culture of their football.
“It is a strong domestic league that they play in, but this is Asian Champions League. It will be difficult, but the draw is a benefit for me.”
He added: “I believe in my team. I am sure we can do it.
“We had a bad result against Itti-had in the group [stage] in my first game in charge when we lost, then drew the other game. We must do better.”
Both sides have endured disappointing domestic top-flight campaigns, with Al Ain finishing sixth in the Arabian Gulf League and Ittihad seventh in the Saudi Professional League.
The Boss have improved rapidly since Dalic’s arrival in March, however, lifting the President’s Cup last week and knocking out Al Jazira in the previous stage of the ACL.
Despite Ittihad’s travails, the Croatian highlighted their speed as a threat.
He said: “It will be very tough as Ittihad are excellent on the counter- attack, but we will prepare everything for this game.
“Ittihad might even bring back [attacking midfielder] Mohammed Noor, who is a big player and legend at their club.
“Ittihad will try to do everything to beat us. It will be spectacular playing in Jeddah because many supporters pack into the stadium.”
The first meeting will take place on August 19 at the Hazza bin Zayed, with the tie concluding at the brand new King Abdullah Sports City Stadium a week later.
Dalic cited the amount of time he had to get ready when explaining he was not too worried about playing the decider in Saudi Arabia. Dalic banks on Saudi info Croatian confident his knowledge of football in the kingdom will be useful against Al Ittihad.
The Croatian said: “Maybe it would be better for us if we played the second game at home, but we can start preparing everything now as we know the situation and our target.
“We also get excellent support from the Al Ain fans.”
Given that the West Asia and East Asia Zone teams were kept apart in the draw, it means that either Hilal or Qatar’s Al Sadd await the winners in the semi-finals.
