Al Ahli’s entertainers have got what it takes to blow away Al Hilal on Tuesday night and earn a historic AFC Champions League final berth, according to boss Cosmin Olaroiu.
The Red Knights will head out at an electric Rashid Stadium buoyed by a 1-1 draw from last month’s first leg away tothe Saudi Arabian heavyweights.
Red-hot Brazilian striker Lima, compatriot Everton Ribeiro and UAE forward Ahmed Khalil have inspired the club’s first lengthy run in the knockout stages.
Their Romanian boss believes this attacking strength will be decisive, rather than his experience at the helm of this evening’s opposition and the Saudi national team.
“In football, everyone has a tendency to believe it is a science or purely mathematical,” the 46-year-old said. “Football is a show, made by artists.
“Any moment they can improvise or do things you cannot expect. That is why everyone looks for players with quality, who can decide things by themselves.
“You know the opponent, how they move or how they will attack or defend.
“But you do not know when they will shoot or how.
“This depends on the quality of the players and Hilal have a lot of these players. Our information, my knowledge and my information will help – but it will not be decisive.
“This is a game which has more psychological power and strength. The [Ahli] players will succeed.”
For Ahli to reach next month’s two-legged decider against the best team from east Asia, they will have to conquer continental royalty.
Giorgos Donis’ side have won the competition twice, last year’s shock defeat to Western Sydney Wanderers also the third time they had been runners-up. In contrast, the Red Knights would be the first UAE team to make the final since Al Ain’s defeat to Al Ittihad a decade ago.
“We have only one way to play and that is to win” – Olaroiu
But Olaroiu – who lifted three major trophies from 2007-09 at Hilal – believes “everything is forgotten” in the heat of battle.
He said: “Experience or quality doesn’t matter, everything is forgotten once you step on the field. They have strong and weak points, so do we.
“But I think in this moment my players want more than anyone to play the final. This is a unique moment of their lives, we don’t know when it will be happen again.”
Hilal have not played since last month’s first leg. Their preparations have been far from ideal, Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Khalid Sharhili being banished from the squad for “amateur behaviour” and Brazilian centre-back Digao continuing to serve an ACL suspension.
“I have to say, we are a very professional team,” said Donis when questioned about Sharhili. “I don’t like amateur behaviour.
“If someone continues with that, there is no place for him in the club. He was not at training yesterday [Sunday] as I need to protect the spirit and not destroy the dressing room. We worked a lot of months now in this competition to go step-by-step, to work for this target.”
Ahli had never made it past the group stages in the ACL in five previous attempts. A goalless draw against Hilal the last time the sides met in Dubai contributed to their hopes being torpedoed in 2014.
This time, the same result would see them through courtesy of Lima’s headed away goal in Riyadh, which was cancelled out by Ailton’s late leveller.
“We have to forget this, we start from 0-0,” Olaroiu warned. “Playing a team like Hilal is difficult, especially if you start thinking only about defending – we have only one way to play and that is to win.”
UAE defender Walid Abbas could be fit enough to start after being on the bench for Thursday’s 3-1 victory against Sharjah in the Arabian Gulf League. Otherwise, Olaroiu has a full squad to choose from.
