“What does not kill you, makes you stronger”.
Those were the words spoken by Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu after his side celebrated winning the Arabian Gulf League title in record fashion with a 5-1 thrashing of Al Dhafra amidst jubilant celebrations at the Rashid Stadium last night.
Despite problems involving the Romanian coach early in the season, including a lengthy touchline ban, the Red Knights have already won two major trophies and are aiming for an historic treble when they take on Al Ain in the President’s Cup final on Sunday.
Ahli had wrapped up the title with three games to spare but fans were keen to share the team’s crowning moment.
An early strike from Humaid Abbas after just 22 seconds, a brace from Ahmed Khalil on either side of the break, a free kick from Hugo Viana and a superb late strike from Luis Jimenez provided the goods for Ahli last night, while Kamel Chafni scored a consolation for Dhafra early in the second half.
5,000 fans were in attendance to join in on the celebrations, creating a festive atmosphere from the start.
Fans were rewarded early on by some fast-paced attacking football from Ahli – the kind that separated them from the rest of their rivals in the league throughout the season.
The victory meant Ahli have finished the season with a record number of 64 points – two better than Al Ain’s previous record from last year – and Olaroiu says the difficulties the team faced early on make their success all the sweeter.
“We lost only one game in the season and it was an accident. I think the players did a great job," Olaroiu told Sport360°.
“We are one unit, we are a family and when something happens to somebody we become more strong.”
The Romanian boss is also nominated for Coach of the Year but he says he’s more focused on Ahli’s upcoming clash in the Cup final, adding: “For me the game against Al Ain is important, that’s the most important thing.”
Meanwhile, assistant coach Fabio Cannavaro lauded the players’ efforts and shared Olaroiu’s sentiments about the challenges they faced both on and off the pitch.
The Italian said: “We are very proud because we had a great season.
“We worked hard in pre-season, we started the league with a lot of problems, problems with the coach, with injured players. But in the end we won a lot of games, we won two cups, we won the league and now we’re in the last week and we need to keep concentrated because it will be tough.”
