Bani Yas midfielder Francisco Yeste has backed his side to go one step further and win some silverware next season after their defeat to Al Jazira in the President’s Cup final, as he revealed he has found a happy home in Al Shamkha.
The Basque playmaker, a constant menace throughout the 90 minutes, saw a low free-kick well saved by Ali Khaseif on the stroke of half-time before his effort from the edge of the area, minutes after Nawaf Mubarak had drawn his side level, fizzed just wide.
Yeste was integral in his side’s slick interplay, but while they dominated the game for long periods up until the Jazira penalty area, they were unable to find the killer instinct to give them glory as they crashed to a 3-1 defeat.
With tens of thousands of their fans inside Zayed Sports City it was a bitter pill to swallow as the Sky Blues attempted to win their first piece of silverware since the President’s Cup in 1992.
However while Yeste, who joined Bani Yas from Olympiacos in January, cursed his side’s luck the former Al Wasl man believes the club has a bright future – one that he would like to be a part of.
“It was a very good game. I had two nice chances but I couldn’t score, I think we had very bad luck,” he said. “I think we played very well for the win but we couldn’t score and had no good luck today.
“This team now is building up because the players have very good quality. But now, we start playing well and Inshallah next season we will win.
“I want to stay here, yes, I am happy here,” Yeste said on his future before adding on negotiations with the club. “Nothing (has been started) no but I want to stay because it’s a good club with good players.”
Asked if he was happier in Abu Dhabi than with Wasl, who he spent the 2010/11 season, the former Athletic Bilbao man replied: “Yes.”
While Yeste was upbeat on his side’s future, his coach Gabriel Calderon was left fuming by what he described as a rugby tackle in the build-up to Jazira’s first goal. “It was a rugby foul, not a little foul, terrible, terrible,” the Argentine grumbled. “You gift a goal in a final and then it’s difficult. Maybe the ref sees the foul and it’s 3-0 to Bani Yas.”
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