Al Ain: Zlatko Dalic is targeting a home win for his Al Ain side when they meet Iran’s Zobahan in the first leg of their 2016 AFC Champions League Round of 16 clash at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.
The inaugural ACL champions have had a difficult campaign so far, but the Croatian coach has a full squad at his disposal as the continental club championship moves into the knockout phase.
“We need to win tomorrow with a good result which will strengthen our chances before the second leg in Iran,” said Dalic (pictured), whose team advanced to the semi-finals of the UAE President’s Cup last week.
“We will be playing against a strong team who have performed well defensively and it will be hard for us.
“We must play with a fighting spirit and concentrate fully in order to achieve our target and keep a clean sheet. Our team is ready and we don’t have any players who will miss the match, which is good for us.”
Al Ain only qualified for the knockout phase of the competition on the last day of the group phase thanks to a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan’s Nasaf that ensured the 2003 AFC Champions League winners finished second in Group D behind El Jaish.
Back-to-back defeats against the Qataris in their first two group games had left Dalic’s team in a difficult position, with goals a particular problem following last year’s departure of Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan, the 2014 ACL Top Scorer and AFC Foreign Player of the Year who left Al Ain to join fellow Round of 16 qualifiers Shanghai SIPG.
Brazilian forward Douglas has scored three times in six games while Mohammed Abdulrahman has misfired in front of goal, but despite their struggles Zobahan coach Yahya Golmohammadi believes Al Ain present a serious threat to his team.
“A draw will be good for us because we should be using defensive tactics and we will not go forward in the first leg,” said the former FIFA World Cup central defender. “We want to have a positive result which will make our task easier in the second leg.
“The match will not be easy because Al Ain have a good team with excellent players like their midfielder Omar Abdulrahman. We know Al Ain will be determined to get a victory but we will not give them enough space and we will be fighting strongly against them.”
Zobahan, finalists in the competition in 2010, have performed well in the AFC Champions League so far this season, qualifying for the last 16 having topped Group B undefeated.
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