Al Nasr captain Brett Holman has urged his team-mates to “leave nothing on the pitch” when they fight for a President’s Cup final berth against Al Shabab tonight.
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The Blue Wave have proved to be knockout-competition kings this term, also winning the Arabian Gulf Cup and reaching the GCC Club Cup semi-finals.
Their spell as holders of the latter tournament was ended by their imminent rivals, adding extra spice to the clash at Al Maktoum Stadium.
Ivan Jovanovic’s men faced disappointment at the same stage of the President’s Cup against eventual-winners Al Ain last term and Holman believes their exploits since would ensure that a repeat was avoided.
Video: Match Highlights of Al Nasr VS @alainfcae in President’s Cup #alainfc http://t.co/NvPi6aVwsY
— Al Ain FC – EN (@alainfcae_en) May 23, 2015
“All the boys will know, you do not have that many opportunities to be so close to winning the President’s Cup,” the 31-year-old former Aston Villa and AZ Alkmaar midfielder said.
“Win or lose, every player has to give everything they have as there is a massive carrot on the end of the stick. When the going gets tough, the Nasr boys know how to work for each other and fight for the result.
“The great thing about our team is that we have shown in all cup competitions this season we are prepared to dig deep. If one of our team-mates needs help or is struggling against their opposite number, then we are prepared to sacrifice ourselves.
“The key thing is to give everything we have and leave nothing on the pitch. I am very confident that will happen.”
Shabab have enjoyed a stellar first campaign under coach Caio Junior, finishing third in the AGL and securing GCC glory in a penalty shootout against Oman’s Al Seeb on Wednesday.
Central to this has been giant striker Edgar Bruno. The Brazilian only scored eight goals in 25 top-flight appearances in 2014/15, but his joint-leading return of eight assists provided the platform for key attackers Henrique Luvannor and Carlos Villanueva to excel.
“Everybody knows with Al Shabab that everything goes through the big fella [Edgar] up front,” Holman said. “They play really well around him.
“The key thing is to neutralise that threat defensively and make sure they cannot play to their strengths. If we manage to do that, there is a great flipside as having more of the ball on the counter-attack will make us a lot more dangerous going forward.”
Nasr could be forgiven to aiming for revenge against Shabab this evening. But 63-time capped former Australia international Holman believes the confidence gained from their excellent 1-0 quarter-final triumph against Al Ain negated such a viewpoint.
He said: “There is no element of revenge. We are playing in totally different circumstances – this game will come down to who wants it more. Coming off the victory against Al Ain, the boys are in a great condition with our tails up.”
