Zlatko Dalic has urged the UAE not to pick injured star Omar Abdulrahman for their friendly with Australia this Friday after he sat out Al Ain’s thrilling 4-3 defeat at Al Jazira.
Abdulrahman, 23, sustained a knee injury in Al Ain’s previous game against Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League.
The playmaker was restricted to the stands yesterday at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Dalic revealing his star man is now set for a spell away from the Emirates.
“We are sending him outside the country for treatment and in 17 days he will be ready,” he said.
“He is a big player and he must be ready, but it is better for him to rest and not play only half ready. If he rests he will be ready for both the national team and for Al Ain.”
Despite the fact Abdulrahman was absent and the Boss were also bereft of star striker Asamoah Gyan, who was suspended, Dalic said his team excelled.
“Omar and Asamoah were missed of course, but the team played well, and even without our most important players the team scored three goals,” he said. “We had everything in our hands.
“At 2-1 we had the momentum but we made mistakes in the midfield that allowed Jazira back into the game.”
Defensive errors undermined Al Ain’s display, striker Mirko Vucininc fully exploiting these weaknesses to grab a four-goal haul. Dalic stated his players must concentrate for every second of the game in future to prevent such results.
He said: “You must be serious each second and minute. Mistakes killed us today and against Al Hilal, we were punished.”
Meanwhile, Al Jazira coach Eric Gerets knows that his four-star strike force will always score goals to dig his side out of any hole. The Belgian watched Vucinic score all four goals as The Pride of Abu Dhabi won a rip-roaring game.
“Fortunately, we have four guys at the front who can score at any time,” he said.
“Mirko has been sensational, but even when he doesn’t score we can count on the others and also hope we can keep a clean sheet to collect points.”
