Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic has urged his side to grasp their dream of making the AFC Champions League final for the first time in more than a decade.
The opening skirmish of the Boss’ last-four contest against dangerous Qataris El Jaish takes place on Tuesday night at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. This fixture provides the 2003 winners with the chance to make a return to Asia’s grandest stage, with their last appearance ending in defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad 11 years ago.
The challenge will not be an easy one, with the Soldiers inflicting a pair of defeats on them in Group B. But for Dalic, he was convinced superstar playmaker Omar Abdulrahman and his team-mates have what it takes to secure another shot at “glory”.
“We are too close, very close to our dream,” the 49-year-old said. “But also too far from our dream.
“When we played in the group stages, we had a chance to fix our mistakes. But now, we have two matches for the final, for the glory.
“I’m convinced my team will play good games, especially because we played together for the last two weeks.”
Both sides come into the clash with 100-per-cent records in the nascent Arabian Gulf League and Qatar Stars League, winning both matches. The Boss have been buoyed by new Brazilian winger Caio’s quick adaption, plus striker Douglas returning to form with a hat-trick in Thursday’s 5-2 thrashing of Emirates Club.
They met twice within a week during early spring, with the Boss losing each match by a one-goal margin despite arguably being the stronger side.
Jaish – who were only founded in 2007 – would go on to be thumped 3-0 at home by Al Nasr in the first leg of the quarters, only for Brazil-born striker Wanderley’s “forged or falsified” Indonesian passport to see the AFC rule a forfeit which allowed them to eventually proceed 4-0 on aggregate.
The issue has been a contentious one and urbane coach Sabri Lamouchi, 44, railed against it being revisited during the pre-match press conference.
“My team deserves to be here,” said the ex-France and Internazionale midfielder. “So don’t ask me anything about this decision.
“We respect the rules and after you respect the rules, the pitch decides.”
Reaching this stage of the competition will bring up sore memories for the current Boss squad. They were outclassed by Al Hilal in the 2014 semis, the 4-2 aggregate scoreline not a realistic reflection of the Saudi giants’ dominance.
“That is a very bad memory, we don’t want to remember it now,” said battling UAE centre-back Mohanad Salem.
“We just want to learn from that lesson. Now we are very ready, the spirit is very high and the level physically is excellent.”
