Irate Al Ahli boss Cosmin Olaroiu has revealed he is “more and more disappointed” about the perceived lack of support for his AFC Champions League-finalists.
The heroic Red Knights return to Arabian Gulf League-action tonight with a tricky trip to Al Wahda, just five days after they secured their first spot in the decider of Asia’s premier club competition with a dramatic 4-3 aggregate triumph against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.
The game in the capital is the Romanian’s fourth in 15 days and he rallied against the call – which Clarets boss Javier Aguirre later revealed he was behind – to not move it.
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He said: “I am more and more disappointed about what we see and how they treat us. Everyone says they support you.
“But it is only just the media, because when you need help, nobody helps. Everyone forgets that our players have done a very good job for this country.
“We can play any time, even November 6 [a day before the first leg of the ACL final] if necessary. All the time, we do our job as much as we can and how much they let us.
“Wahda are improving, they are a good team and we will see how we can pass this game.”
When asked whether his anger was targeted at Wahda for not repeating the actions of future top-flight opponents Dibba Al Fujairah and Emirates Club by rescheduling, Olaroiu refused to comment.
But speaking in the build-up to the match which pits the on-song Dubai club against a host side with four points from consecutive meetings against champions Al Ain and cup kings Al Nasr, their boss Javier Aguirre stated he had the final say on the rejection.
He said: “Our team is ready for this difficult match against Al Ahli. They didn’t lose any game, but our performance was great in the last three matches so we trust our team and the match will be in our stadium.
“Our club asked me about moving the game and I said our schedule is so pressed and we have a match next Friday against Al Shaab.”
Record €17 million (Dh80m) buy Moussa Sow returns for Ahli after being ineligible for the ACL, while full-back Mohamed Al Menhali is suspended for Wahda after his red card in the goalless draw at Nasr.
