Al Ain boss Zlatko Dalic and his players are dreaming of AFC Champions League glory as they kick off their 2015 campaign against Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab Riyadh on Tuesday night.
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The Boss have bad memories of Riyadh-based opponents after losing 4-2 on aggregate to Al Hilal in last season’s semi-final.
Dalic’s men were undone by a disastrous first leg at the King Fahd Stadium last September, a game in which goalkeeper Khalid Essa was red-carded as Al Ain lost 3-0.
We want that all-important win tomorrow against Al Shabab: http://t.co/qmL7WnWQ2I @alainfcae
— ASAMOAH GYAN (@ASAMOAH_GYAN3) February 23, 2015
With their semi-final exit still fresh in the memory, Dalic said everyone is hoping to go one better this season.
“The dream is most certainly to win the continental title, it is the dream of all the players and we should strive to put in strong performances in order to be competitors for the title,” said the Croatian.
“At the first round of the group stage this requires good concentration.
“We got the best results in the previous version and were on the cusp of the final. It is important to start in the best possible way, and we look forward to going all the way in the tournament.”
Al Ain’s Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan, meanwhile, feels the Boss are better equipped to claim the title following last season’s near miss.
“We are better prepared and it will be a great incentive for us after we demonstrated the merits of our team last season, but the first target will be to succeed in the first round,” said the 29-year-old, who scored 12 goals in 12 Champions League games last season.
The Garden City club go into tonight’s game on the back of a shock 1-0 defeat at Fujairah in the Arabian Gulf League, but Dalic says that result is behind them.
“What happened at Fujairah will not affect us at the continental level, we have a big ambition in the tournament,” he said.
“We are in a new competition and the goal will remain the same, after we reached the semi-finals in the last version. We have six games, from which we should be reaping nine or 10 points to ensure our presence in the next round.”
Midfielder Omar Abdulrahman answered questions about his Al Ain future on Sunday by signing a lucrative new long-term contract at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, but he will not be rushed back into the team after injury.
Speaking ahead of the game, Abdulrahman, 23, said: “We need to do our best in the AFC Champions League. This is an important competition for us and it’s one of our targets.
“To achieve our target we need to be all as one, the players, the club, the staff and the fans.”
Opponents Shabab are in terrible form domestically, having not won in four Saudi Pro League games. They have lost two and drawn two, including conceding twice in the last 10 minutes as they drew 4-4 with Hajer on Thursday.
