Braga - Young talent can ignite Jazira

Matt Jones - Editor 21:54 08/12/2015
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  • Al Jazira boss Abel Braga is excited by the club's new up and coming talent.

    Their season may be ambling towards mediocrity but an emerging new generation of exciting talent at Al Jazira can act as the silver lining, according to boss Abel Braga.

    Braga’s heralded return to the capital in the summer has not exactly gone to plan, with the Pride of Abu Dhabi slumping to 11th place in the Arabian Gulf League table following just three wins and five defeats in their opening 10 games.

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    They are already 14 points adrift of champions Al Ain at the top of the table and on the verge of elimination from the Arabian Gulf Cup, meaning any chance of silverware this season is remote.

    Braga is looking at the positives, however, and sees Jazira’s woes as providing the platform for next generation to flourish.

    “Now we are giving chances to the youngsters and we are improving,” said Braga.

    “They have done a good job and I want to give them the confidence to continue in the same way. We want them to have experience and we have no option also, because of the league we are in 11th place.

    “The academy has given us good players and we want to use them now. If we don’t do it now we will only have to do it some other time.

    “We are missing some players and this is a renovation stage where we keep faith with the younger players. Sometimes when you renovate a team you need time for this.

    “We hope the players will have better performances. Some of the other clubs are not affected by this but for us it is not easy. The turn for this team will be in the future.”

    The likes of Ahmed Al Attas, Khalfan Mubarak, Ahmed Rabeya (all 20) and Sultan Al Suwaidi, Salem Ali and Saif Khalfan (all 22) are now prominent fixtures in the Jazira first team.

    Al Attas and Mubarak were both on the scoresheet as the Pride of Abu Dhabi beat Al Shaab 5-1 to record their first victory in 11 games on Saturday, and Braga believes they can follow in the footsteps of academy graduates Ali Mabkhout and Khamis Esmail.

    The Brazilian gave the duo their debuts during his first stint at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium and the Portuguese believes the current crop could form the backbone of the UAE national team in years to come.

    “If you look at the examples of Khamis Esmail and Ali Mabkhout, when they played in 2010, 90 per cent of the time they were on the substitute’s bench, but now they are playing 60 or 70 per cent of the time with the national team so we are very happy and very proud of them,” said Braga.

    20-year-old Ahmed Rabeya is one of the brighest young prospects at the club.

    “We hope these young people will do the same in the future with the national team. When I ended my time with Jazira in 2011 Mabkhout and Esmail had a small chance of success, now they play 90 per cent of the games for Jazira.

    “I gave them their chance, to give them confidence. Now I am doing the same with the new young players.”

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